Summer storms.

Last Thursday afternoon. Back yard looks pretty calm and serene.

Oh wait. What's going on here, on the right?

Ack!

At about 4:30 PM on Thursday the winds howled, the rain came sideways, maybe thunder and lightning -- I don't remember because it happened so fast and the windows in my living room were emitting a high-pitched wail that made the cats flee. I don't think the storm lasted more than 15-20 minutes, but when it ended the neighborhood was a mess.

Our damage was similar to that of neighbors behind us, but at least our trees didn't hit houses or cars (or people!). Just fences and benches. Sometime during the first night after the storm, at least one deer found her way into what had been a hosta-filled, deer-proofed garden. She nibbled off just the hosta flowers and ignored the foliage (oh, she'll be back for those leaves soon). There are too many holes in the elaborate fencing to fix before a contractor can get into this mess and remove the stump and the massive trunk attached to it.

It's now Tuesday morning and the chain saws, cranes, and heavy moving equipment have been working almost non-stop since Thursday. Not in my yard, but in yards where the damage was much worse. They even worked throughout the night the first day or two--so many cables and overhead wires came down that the utility companies swooped in to help clean up. (This is why you'll never hear me complain about Pepco, our local electricity carrier. Those people work hard and fast and I'm so grateful to them all.) Today we hope to see work starting on our big mess.

This summer Doug will devote much time to rebuilding his lovely bamboo structures, recreating a nice curve to the bedding area, and replanting bedding plants. I'll help but mostly I'll focus on getting the deer fencing back in shape. The neighborhood is thick with hungry fawns.

Here's an old picture of his bamboo project. See that nice redbud on the right? Gone with the wind.

The Great Dreary.

 

I've been listening to this book on CD since April. Glory hallelujah I'm done! It's an excellent book, especially for readers who have a high tolerance for wallowing in misery. I'm apparently drawn to depressing books, especially in nonfiction. I have a special love of disasters. Of this I am not proud. And I recognize that it's not good for my mental health but I can't stop myself.

This book needs no description: the subtitle says it all. Although I think I would insert the word "suffering" somewhere in that subtitle: I came away with a very, very full picture of just how awful the aftermath of that storm was for the residents. And the saddest part is that it will happen again.

And while I'm discussing my sick obsession with disasters, here are some observations from an oceanographer who was on the Diane Rehm radio show yesterday. The discussion was all that plastic that's out there in our oceans. (Diane is no slouch in the disaster area herself.)

According to Charles Moore:

You know, we're driven by an economic paradigm that requires us to be wasteful. We produce waste in order to drive the economic system. But there's a wide range of possible scenarios in which attractive economic, social and environmental outcomes are possible without relying on economic growth. We need a steady state economy. We need -- all these ideas about recycling, that's really about a steady state economy, where you take back as much as you produce. And in order to do that, we need a change in the economic paradigm. And the 11th commandment can't be thou shalt grow the economy, but that's the only way a politician can get elected.

I feel that we're being driven into a barbaric situation by this push to constantly grow the economy. We've got to reign in the productive monster. You can't have unlimited growth on finite resources. It just defies logic. And that is a radical change that would deal with the climate crisis as well as the plastic pollution crisis. But we need radicals. Radicals drive change, and that's why I'm an activist.

I'm not an activist or a radical. I'm just a doomsayer. But I do recycle and I no longer buy shampoo so that's something.

My lone bedraggled sunflower survived the deadly storm that blew through town yesterday, but the next door neighbors' picnic table did not.

We were very very lucky, and lost power for just about 15 hours. But there are more storms heading our way.

On the street(s) where I live. Nasty storm blew through on Sunday. 90 mph winds. Lucky we only lost the blue spruce. Still standing but just barely.

All of the pictures below are from other yards. The ventilated spruce above is still standing in our side yard but it will have to come down. I have mixed feelings. I always hate to lose a big tree but it will open up a nice garden area. And my herb garden will get a LOT more sun now. It was one scary storm. Lasted about 15 minutes but wow what a punch. Some people in the DC area are still w/o power.