Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Adventures in America's Dairy Land Part 2 of 2

I recieved a dispatch from home today. The rotted meat stentch will not go away. My mother reported that putting boxes of baking soda in the freezer only made it worse. (What?????) Any suggestions?

Ok, part 2. Part 2 is not nearly as exciting as part 1 but I still find it shocking. Last Thursday Northern/Western Wisconsin was hit by a huge string of severe thunderstorms. These storms were pretty nasty, bad enough for the storm sirens to go off. Of course being typical Wisconsinites, we ignored the sirens. Anway, no severe thunderstorm is not without its share of damage. Usually downed tree limbs, power outages, etc, etc. Our house has been lucky the last few years. We've managed to escape with very little damage to our vegetation. And we our house is situated in such a way that it is backed up into some lovely woods. So one would expect tree limbs everywhere after a storm - not so. In our front yard along the curb, we have 3 trees planted. My father planted them when we first moved in about 10 years ago. They were but mere saplings at that time but have grown into might trees since. The middle tree of the 3 has been suseptible to danger though. In the past few years its been damaged by lighting, making it weak. Sadly, the middle tree did not survive this storm. Lighting attacked it again, hitting it right at the base where the roots meet the soil. Where does so mighty a tree have to fall? Why, right into the narrow cul-de-sac street of course! The tree stretch almost to the other side, practically blocking the road. Mother came home after the storm had passed from a reading teacher function of some sort and announced that the tree was down. There was general rushing outside to view it even in the dark and gnashing of teeth. (Well I gnashed my teeth.) Needless to say, I am saddened by the loss of our tree. The 3 trees at the edge of the yard were like a beacon of comfort or arms craddling our house. It made the vast front yard seem less expansive and homey. Now there are 2 and they are much too far apart for my taste. The City was called in the morning to come pick up the downed tree. I didn't get a chance to photograph before it met its end. I stupidly took a shower thinking the City would not be so prompt in its pick up. My mother watch the tree, and said that it fought valiantly against the wood chipper the City vehicle had brought along to make transport easier.

Fare thee well tree, I shall miss you.

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