Monday was, shall we say, no exception.
I woke up to overcast skies, drove over to a glorious sunny Monday morning on the East side, and about noon the wind came up and the thunder boomers moved in. It helps to understand that the NW is just a little bit wooded - where there isn't old or medium growth evergreen there's more than likely some decorative tree or another or the ever present water weed, alder (which, coincidentally, a dandy wood to smoke things over). And this isn't just out in the countryside - it's in the cities, too.
When it gets more than slightly windy around here, things tend to get a little more exciting than in less forested environments. Boom in the night is not limited to high explosives and ruptured gas lines - a 140' Douglas Fir makes a real impression when it decides to come visit at ground level. We can usually count on a few houses crunched, the occasional crushed car, and usually at least one tale of high drama involving falling trees, power lines, and either people or livestock.
Monday wasn't an exception. A portion of I-5 was closed north of Seattle because some of those forest giants had decided to take a little lie-down across the lanes during rush hour. The main drag near the house had the top half of a citified deciduous tree of some kind strewn across it. Yet all was well, and I was thinking of grabbing the chain saw and going out into the neighborhood to be helpful as I made my way home.
That is, right about till the time I pulled up in front of the house. About a third of the tree in front had snapped off and dumped in the front yard, barely missing taking out windows, siding, or people. Fun.
Fortunately I now have a plug-in electric chainsaw (it's not gas, but I don't use a chainsaw often enough to justify that). About two hours later...
Anyone need some wood?
Ah yes! We have a similar phenomenon here. Enough so that we had to break down and get an actual gas chainsaw.
ReplyDeleteGlad it missed the house.