Again.
I promised you that I wouldn't bore you with talk of weather but it occurred to me that the weather is truly part and parcel of living in the midwest. Our daily lives are affected by the elements and we are forced to be flexible or risk putting ourselves at risk.
The days leading up to Christmas were fraught with onslaughts of ice and rain. The ice coats everything and has a tremendous destructive power. Black ice is a hidden danger that has caused many a vehicle to crash. Our trees are expecially at risk.
It was with great sadness that I turned the corner to discover our neighbor's beautiful willow tree had succumed to the weight.
I thought willows were made of wood that bends and gives. Unfortunately, this tree was loaded beyond it's limit.
This was the scene two days ago.
It's gotten worse. The tree has split further and half the tree is laid out from the break line like a lacy fan spread on the ground.
Today we were to have a large family gathering, planned by the Other Mother. Unfortunately it's been snowing since last night and all the guests were to come from a long distance. It's looks like the party will not happen. It's certainly a disappointment for the Other Mother but again, in the midwest you must bend to the elements or break like the overladen willow.
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas. Come back tomorrow when I'll share photos from our Christmas morning.
7 comments:
We drove up on Wednesday. The roads were just wet. Just north of Galesburg we started to notice ice on the trees. Christmas Eve was interesting. Maple Park had no electricity. Thankfully my uncle has a generator so our smorgasbord was only delayed. We drove home in snow last night only to be met with a cold house, a wet basement and a furnace that would not come on. We just now got heat. Thankful for good neighbors who lent us their brand new infrared heater.
We postponed all of our Christmas family festivities because of the weather. Disappointing, but we know that everyone is safe. There have already been too many deaths due to bad roads. Ah, the stories we will be able to tell about the blizzard of 'Aught Nine! (daughter and I are using that old fashioned term for the next few days-she remembers how Grandma talked about Nineteen Aught Five.)
Oh, a belated Merry Christmas to you and hope you have a Happy New Year!
Very good life lesson post.
Suzanne I want to publicly thank you for the aprons I bought. Both gifts were loved by their recipients. My aunt loved your calligraphy handwriting and she adores her apron.
My friends little 10 year old son had a smashing success of surprising his Mommy. I have to shorten the neck strap as she is very petite and the bib starts underneath her bra line. But I can manage that.
So to all of your readers everyone head right over to the store and buy! You will love to have one.
I do think it would be helpful to say if the shirt is extra large or not. My Aunts was perfect big and roomy. My friend could have used a smaller fit. I really thought of them as one size fits all until I saw her try hers on. that's just some feedback for you to think about.
I also think describing the fabrics helps is they are crisp poplins or soft and broken in. I like the crisper fabrics myself. I love my purple and white stripe apron.
Any chance of an after the holidays sale?
ps if your husband will go out there with a chain saw and cut the breaks off that tree it may come back.
We might have several days of miserable unbearable cold every winter, but we really do not have much for blizzards or ice storms. Hope your weather improves soon - we've actually had a couple of very good days here.
How sad about the willow. We planted one in our backyard when I was a child back in the early 1960's. It still stands to this day in our old backyard in Iowa. It's HUGE. They really are lovely trees.
Di
The Blue Ridge Gal
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