Hurricane Irate (err… Irene)

So, Irene sorta came to visit without an invitation.

Any of YOU are invited to come drop in on us without one, but we do wish that Irene had checked first to see if she was welcome (she wasn’t, for the record) We were up in PA from Friday evening until about 9pm Sunday evening, for my Grandpa Rice’s memorial service. He was an awesome man, and no amount of my typing would do him justice, so I won’t even begin to try. Suffice it to say that 2 days wasn’t enough to celebrate his life, but it’s what we had.

We were gone for Irene’s tantrum, but got back in time for the cleanup. Not knowing what to expect, I prepared myself for a totally obscured driveway, and 2 or 3 trees crashed into our roof at various points. Since the forest comes right up to the house, that wasn’t a crazy visual, by the way.

As it turned out, though, there were some pretty big branches across the driveway (draggable to the side), and some trees fallen over (away from the house) but we were remarkably fortunate to escape as unscathed as we were. Every tree that fell was pointing away from the house, and even the ones that are leaning are headed away.

After Quinn went to work today, the kids and I did too. Ben was my amazing right hand man. That kid did a full day’s work without a single complaint, and didn’t stop until I did. It might have been the bribe promised reward of pizza, or maybe he’s just getting more mature, but he was a real trooper today. We got the whole driveway cleared out and swept, and a good portion of the yard cleared of debris, before my blisters and back called a halt to the work. Nate and Naomi would have been great as just cheerleaders, but as workers, they left something to be desired. Aah well. ☺



There’s a lot left to be done, and many trees to be removed, but it was good to stretch out today and get a lot of the aftermath cleaned up by hand. I’m sure my opinion will change as the week goes on, but for now, I’m stubbornly pleased to have gotten so much accomplished with my own muscles. I’ll post pictures as the work progresses. ☺