Stormin’
This nor’wester came on in a fury last evening, tipping deck chairs over and I dunno what else. The GG was actually kind of freaked out. He is NOT as totally unflappable as he would like to portray himself but he is usually calm in the face of scary weather.
Meeeee? I was not afraid of this weather. I sensed a fast-moving front that would hit hard at first, dump some rain on us, and eventually calm down. And that’s what it did. I have experienced these kinds of storms (in this location) my entire life and they are pretty predictable. Well, there was the Labor Day storm of 2010 that flung kayaks and beach chairs all over the place, sinking some of them and moving the Motor Bote down in front of Don and Katie’s and filling it with sand and water. That one caught us off guard.
That’s not to say that big wind storms are not a concern. We have a LOT of big trees around here, mostly red and white pines but also birch and other deciduous trees. The thing is, they rarely fall *over*. Unlike the trees in the little woods behind our landfill on the Planet Ann Arbor, which tip over all the time. But it’s still a possibility for trees to fall down here and I am not one to be nonchalant about that although I kind of am…
I personally have watched exactly ONE tree “fall” down. It was an ancient birch next to the path to the beach and it didn’t really “fall”, it collapsed into itself – sorta World Trade Center style.
It was a beautiful warm, deadly calm day in October and I was up here at the moomin to help The Commander turn off the cabin water for the winter. I was not much help. I’m sorry moom. The GG was in San Francisco for the weekend that year but every year since then, he has been the main cabin opener and closer. I am greatly appreciative for all his help as I am not talented in those kinds of things.
Anyway. I bought fancy take-out food from Karl’s Cuisine and Radical Betty brought a bottle of whine over and after the water was shut off, we sat on the deck for lunch. All of a sudden, there was a really weird noise and the top of the birch tree in question was kind of spiraling and then, just like I said, it kind of collapsed into itself. Again, there was NO WIND! It was 2006 so I didn’t have an iPhone in my pocket and therefore do not have a pic.
August 14th, 2025 at 2:11 pm
I’ve seen too many trees come down although they are usually deliberated felled (or is it falled?). That’s not to say that they don’t, just that I don’t go anywhere near them when it’s windy. We’re expecting an atmospheric river; we need the rain but can’t there ever be middle ground?