The wind storm

If you're in the area, you need not be told. If you're not, then check the news sites. In any case the wind storms of a week ago are still being cleaned up around here. This was the most dramatic scene I could take a picture of with my cell phone. Yep, that was a 40 foot tree that was uprooted overnight. At my house we have three trees of equal size in the back yard and an 18 footer in the front. Those were whipped around and plucked bare of leaves but there was no such damage. The winds came and went, and left a mess in their path. We cleaned up the front yard with much effort and this is the inspiration for the first real entry on this blog.
We raked, we blew with the leaf blower, we used our brand spanking new Worx blower/vac from the infomercials. The kids made a mess of the mess- taking their first opportunity to jump into leaf piles and crunch the dry leaves into powder. In the end all the big branches should have been picked up by hand. All the leaves and twigs strewn throughout the yard should have been left to my lawnmower. Mental note. Next time an unusual wind occurrence strips the trees with 90mph sustained winds, leaving debris carpeting the entire front yard... run the lawn mower over the mess. It mulches, vacuums, and empties right into the green trash can.
I will chock this up to experience, and blame the wasted effort on being a Californian and never really experiencing any substantial weather event that can't be remedied with a pair of shorts, a cool drink and a fan.