Child of the Wind, Part Three

Wind swirling, swaying

enormous coniferous trees

Branches dancing and singing

Fir, Hemlock, Cedar Deodar

lanky and tall,

many are multi-trunked, these

Pacific Northwest giant conifers.

~~~~

From the bedroom, I heard a

CRACK, then a shout,

TREE DOWN, followed by a

BOOM!

I run to the kitchen, at the shout.

Standing side by side,

my husband and I stared out

at the tree that might

have crushed him.

~~~~~

One hundred feet of tree,

broken, finally, by the wind.

Aiming for our windows,

its multiple trunks had tired

of standing, swaying,

rocking in the wind.

It stood no more.

- I am a Child of the Wind -

Diverted by the wind,

lifted and turned by the wind,

the tree’s course was changed,

angled in its falling frenzy,

making its way to our roof,

the wind felling it in one

huge burst of air.

The enormous trunk,

four feet in diameter,

laid slantwise,

blasted from the road behind,

and rested across the fence,

covering the backyard,

with its hefty branches and trunk.

The force of its fall drove

one bare branch three feet into the ground

** I am a Child of the Wind **

Treetop dented the gutter and

one spot on the roof,

no rain came in,

a minor fix.

But, ever being a Child of the Wind

didn’t help cut up the tree,

nor did the city, from whose

side it fell!

~~~~

Weeks of chainsawing,

ensued, followed by

multiple city dump trips.

So much firewood, which we

didn’t use.

Firewood needs to dry out before use,

needs a storage place to dry it,

stack it and store it.

Those who helped with its harvest

took what they wanted with our blessing.

The beggars driving by and stopping,

after the chopping, after the hard

work was complete,

received nothing but a

resounding NO!

from my husband

when they asked,

no help, no gain.

You can see Part Two here: