Pardon Our Appearance......

My mother used to say that the horrible storms we had down south, whether they be wind or ice, was nature's way of pruning. Coming from the land of pine, to hear the snapping and thud of tall trees as they give way to the force of wind or the weight of ice still makes me cringe. I had half a pine fly through the air and end up in my den one time. It wasn't pretty.

The past month has been a flash back for me in dealing with the property in West Haven. There was storm with winds that took out quite a few trees. Two of them (of course, pines) directly affected the wedding and had to be removed. They weren't small either, and one of them was wedged 15 feet up in the crotch of a beech tree. Needless to say, the Scotsman I'm marrying insisted on pulling it down by himself and I want to give a big thanks to our neighbor John Thompson for helping with that. The whole operation had me so stressed out, I had to walk away until I heard the thud.

After clearing that one, we went back the following weekend, and the road was blocked by an old rotten tree this time. This summer's mantra is the continuous hum of a chainsaw.

And I may have to put up a sign at our wedding "venue" saying PARDON OUR APPEARANCE WHILE MOTHER NATURE REDECORATES.