November 17 and the big windstorm...

Today we had a windstorm. We knew it was coming but of course, no one can predict how much damage, if any, will happen. We had a big storm in August that uprooted trees and left people without power for days.

Today's storm also knocked out power, blew trees down on major highways and cars, and carried a good amount of rain with it.

I really hate windstorms. Mainly because there is this REALLY tall tree right in my back yard. You see, my neighborhood was constructed 15 years ago by basically razing all the trees and leaving this patch of trees right in the middle which were not meant to be strong and firm. These trees were once protected by much stronger, bigger and more wind firm trees. These trees are spindly - long, skinny, with few branches at the bottom but top-heavy with foliage. Perfect for snapping off in bad weather. In fact, I've actually watched two trees fall right outside my window and it's a stunning sight. And also frightening when they hit neighbors' houses and fences.

So, most every time the wind picks up, I spend a fair amount of time checking on "the butter knife" as I've affectionately named my tall tree. I feel like one day, it's going to slice through my house like a knife through butter. We're right in the way, after all. It would make a clean cut through my bedroom, coming to rest in my kitchen and family room. I've actually seen first-hand what it looks like when a large tree cuts through a house and it's quite terrifying. So, this tree and I, we've had a long relationship.

Now, chances are, if the tree actually does fall, it will fall away from the house due to the direction of the wind. But I'm not taking any chances. I have leapt from my bed more than once when I've heard, in the wee hours of the night, the howl of the wind, the shake of the house, and the unmistakable snap, crackle and pop of a tree falling in the woods. I've run to the door to escape, only to be thwarted by a false alarm again and again. Still, I'm not taking any chances. I've even made all the kids sleep on the living room floor in what I deem to be the safest distance from any tree damage on particularly harsh weather nights.

Today, when I left work, I was startled by a loud sound - a tree branch had come down on top of my minivan as I exited the parking lot. Too stunned to even get out and check, I drove off, my mission to get home to my safe haven on the top of my mind. But what safe haven? The Butter Knife was waiting for me. Damn him.

I've read disconcerting accounts of accidents involving trees. Just today, another fatality was caused by a falling tree on the very road Mountain Man and I drove on just two weeks ago during a Sunday afternoon exploring adventure. What a terrible way to go! I'm so paranoid of a tree falling on me, I actually spend my time driving looking up more than at the road, thereby putting myself in even more danger. This is why I should stay home during windstorms.

Lucky for us, our power stayed on, despite flickering here and there. We had a warm dinner prepared on the gas stove, so even if the power had gone out, we could still have prepared food. It's a bit blustery out, still, but likely by morning the winds will have fizzled out and power will be restored to all. Crossing our fingers.

Still, this is our November in the Pacific Northwest. Windstorm after windstorm and rain upon rain. November is a drizzly, cold, miserable month in a lot of ways. But I'm not complaining. My evening obligations were canceled because of the storm, and I made a pot of homemade chili and a pan of cornbread. My son lit the candles, and my husband and I caught up on the tv show we missed last week when we were traveling. My daughter, thoughtful in her preparations, had gathered flashlights and candles in the event of a power outage. I had time to hang out with my college kid, listen to music (and to her singing, always a bonus!) and watch videos. And, as the house grew quiet, time for blogging.

So, as much as I hate windstorms, I appreciate an unexpectedly free evening, even if I do have to keep a sideways eye on the Butter Knife. One of these days..........

Seattle weather........

You know that saying "if you don't like the weather in Seattle, just stick around ten minutes?" Well, it's true. (No? You don't know that saying? Well, you obviously don't live in Seattle. Psh.) Anyway, yesterday was a perfect example of that. The morning was cool and crisp, but I left the house wearing a shirt and a sweater over it and was perfectly comfy (never mind that these days I'm not cold - EVER - so I haven't worn a coat but maybe twice this entire winter). It's spring now, after all, and if things were progressing normally, yesterday would have been punctuated by sunshine and perhaps a comfortable breeze now and then. But that's in the normal world. We live in Seattle. So, after the relatively mild morning, there was some "sunshine breakthrough". This is a valid weather term here - akin to "scattered showers", "periods of rain followed by showers", and "intermittent rain showers". At this very moment of beautiful sun I received a call from a friend asking me to go to the tulip fields. Yes, we have these really cool tulip fields here that bloom in April and attract zillions of people snapping pictures of rows and rows of color. It sounded like a perfect afternoon of photography - except I had to go home to supervise my offspring in cleaning our pigsty, oops, house, so I declined the invite. And a good thing, too, because not long after that I got a hankering for a Frappe from McDonald's. No, that's not relevant to the story, but it does explain why I went on a "treat run" in the afternoon, toting Hannah along, because she jumped at the opportunity to escape Cinderella-dom and stop cleaning for fifteen minutes. Off we went to Mickey D's and sometime in those fifteen minutes the sky got a little darker and the wind picked up. When we arrived home I saw an ominous black cloud and I said "look, there's a snow cloud" and Hannah laughed. But fifteen minutes later, I was, like, "what the hail?" because hail was coming down in sheets and covering the ground with white, not unlike actual snow! And then we realized that the hail was lasting a long time and before you know it, huge white flakes of SNOW were falling. What the fluff? Snow in April? And an hour or so later, there was still an odd combination of snow/rain/hail falling from the sky and it was COLD! The snow/rain/hail stopped and later it was just cold and wet. And this morning the trees behind my house are blooming with tiny pink flowers set against a white sky. And I detect a slight mist in the air. This afternoon, there is a good chance the sun will break through, the temperature will shoot up twenty degrees and crazy Seattleites will don shorts and sandals with socks and expensive sunglasses and walk outside desperately trying to soak up some Vitamin D for the twenty minutes or so that it lasts. Yep, that's our weather in Seattle. No attention span AT ALL.