Aunty Em, Aunty Em!

Do you hear that?! That isn’t coyotes, it is the wind howling outside. Good thing we’re safe and sound inside.

As is usual for Friday night, our neighbor Sarah came over to have dinner with us and watch West Wing on DVD. We’re up to Season Six, where President Bartlett has the MS attack on his China trip. We had to turn up the volume a bit so we could hear over the blowing wind. We had just started the second episode of the evening when there came a knocking at the door.

It was Jarred, our neighbor. A tree was down on the road and he couldn’t get home. He wanted to borrow a chainsaw because he really didn’t want to hike up to his place in the dark to get one. We grabbed both of our saws and headed to the downed tree. This thing wasn’t the biggest tree in the world, but with all of its foliage, it formed a barricade as tall as a man. Jarred and I started at opposite ends, limbing the tree so we could get at the trunk. Once all the limbs were out of the way, we cut the trunk and rolled the log to the side of the road. (Tomorrow I’ll go back with a truck and drag that log to the house, it will make good firewood. :)

The job done, Jarred ran me back to the house. I stowed the chainsaws in the garage and wished him safe driving. He drove up our driveway, and then started to back down again. Yep, in the time in took him to drop me off and turn around, a tree had fallen across the driveway up by the road. I grabbed a saw and trudged up to the top of the drive. This was a little tree, one cut, then the two of us pushed it off to the side. This time, I sent the saw with him, wanting to make sure he could get home.

Back inside Christie and Sarah had finished the episode and were ready to watch another. After the third episode, in which President Bartlett struggles with his disability and watches his last China Summit fall apart, Sarah went home. Not wanting to take any chances, we sent our other saw with her in case she had to clear any trees.

She did. A while later, our neighbor Regis stopped by to return the saw we sent with Sarah. He was coming up the hill and arrived in time to help her chop up yet another tree. Good thing she had a saw with her, huh?

What do you want to bet that every single resident of this mountain has a saw in their car/truck tomorrow? Heh, I wouldn’t take that bet!