Hurricane Sandy's Effect on Country Trees

I had planned on working remotely a few days after Hurricane Sandy, but S. had called to say that things were a bit touch and go there as far as telephone/internet access. And electricity for that matter. So I held off going up a few extra days. When I drove up last Friday evening there was a marked moment in the drive where things suddenly got darker than usual, and there were still a few big trees that hadn't been removed from the country roads. It was striking to see all the downed wires and old trees that had met their ends as a result of Sandy. My neighborhood in Philadelphia was almost entirely untouched. We never lost power nor did we experience flooding. In fact, there's a travel coffee mug on our deck table, which even during the windiest and most rainy part of the storm, didn't budge an inch. We were lucky of course, especially compared to NYC or the Jersey shore. The country also didn't fare quite as well. The next morning I woke up far earlier than I meant to, and instead of just going back to sleep I decided to take a walk to see what could be seen as far as trees down. This tree fell smack dab on some group of wires.

Same tree, different angle.

Bird house becomes mouse house?

I found it interesting that the inside of this tree was hollowed out a bit. Obviously it had already been cut, but had it already been like that? Or did some intrepid animal quickly think that a little digging out the tree remainder could become a nice home?

Poor little fence.

This was just a pretty view.

Yup, already starting to be cut down to size, but the damage to the fence remains.

As a kid I was always sort of amazed by the ability to age a tree by counting its rings.

I am still pretty amazed by it, but also by the images that can be captured/created over the years.

Poor trees.

This storm was no joke.

No joke at all.

This tells the story of one tree falling on another, and that one also succumbing to the wet ground and strong winds.

Yup. They went down together.

Whooooooooosh.

And on a political note. The jerks who put these stickers on these signs are, I'm sure, quite disappointed with the results of our election. I, frankly, can't understand how we can be so divided about issues that seem so obvious. Gay marriage is a civil rights issue and anyone who feels like it is anything else than that is a terrible combination of ignorant and hateful. I know that's not very charitable, but for me it's true. Though I am not gay, it hurts me to the core to think that people truly think they are somehow 'better' or 'more worthy' of the rights and privileges that come with a legally recognized marriage. I think for many of us with that basic vantage point, the true thing that 'sticks in our collective craws' is the fact that extending the rights of marriage, or serving openly in the military, for gay/lesbian/etc does not in any way actually affect the lives of people who oppose it. They think it does. But seriously, they are wrong. I'm getting angry and sick just thinking about this, so I'm going to end it. But I do have to write some sort of something about just how I feel about the strange polarization that's going on and how it's hard to figure it out.

Saturday Early Snow

The end of this week will mark the one year anniversary of my mother's death. I didn't feel like spending it in the city, and certainly didn't want to deal with office folk throughout the week, so I asked my employers if I could work remotely, which they graciously granted me permission to do. My plan was to return to S.'s house, which is where I spent a good number of days after departing the south and returning northerly after Mom's funeral. My initial plan was to arrive Saturday, but there was all this talk of 'snow' so I decided it probably made more sense to leave Friday evening, which I did. Though I stopped briefly to get myself some wine, I didn't make a proper grocery run because I figured I'd have plenty of time before the snow to do so on Saturday morning (my priorities in action). This turned out only kind of true. When I got out of bed around 9 it was already snowing, and though I'm sure I could have safely made it the 10-ish miles to the grocery store and back without disaster striking...I decided that maybe I didn't want to, and that I had enough weird things to eat to last me. Here's what it looked like within an hour of me waking up when I took my first snow walk. Well, actually this photograph of the pumpkin patch was taken inside.

It was seriously coming down and didn't really seem like it had any intention of letting up. As the day went on, and the snow kept falling, lights flickered and flashed until eventually regular electricity conked out entirely. Thankfully for me, S. has a generator, which has seen me through the last two days and hopefully will see me through until the power is restored.
Just a little snow.
It didn't feel quite wintery, so I didn't wear a jacket but I did wear a hat.

Happy Hour c/o Frankford Hall

Later on, after the museum and some attempts at tidying at home, I met up with C.P. and we walked up to Girard to take the trolley over to Frankford Hall so we could take advantage of the establishment's happy hour. This happy hour includes $10 liters, $5 half liters, $8 for a half liter and a sausage, and maybe one other deal that I can't recall at this moment in time. I went for the straight up liter. I didn't vary the beer from my last visit because, well, I like Kolsch so why mess with a good thing?
As we sipped our beers, admired babies from afar and generally enjoyed the good atmosphere and warm weather, we played rip-off Jenga.
In the end I was the one who made it collapse, but we both commented that the blocks weren't as smooth or as uniform in size as a proper Jenga set. I guess I get why the place wouldn't spring for the real thing when drunk idiots will knock the things over one way or the other, but as a relatively sober player I must say that there was a difference. It's like people who say that whole wheat pasta tastes the same as regular pasta, or that skim milk is just as good as whole in one's coffee: they are lying to themselves and trying to convince you that you are the crazy one. You are not the crazy one. Nor am I.
It really is a nice outdoor space. I'm curious to see what the vibe will be like as fall weather takes over the world. I'll also be interested to see how the indoor space feels once the outdoor area closes for the season - because it'll have to close at some point, you would think.

Hurricane Hurricane Whoicane?

So it's raining now. The tree by my bedroom is beginning to rustle with the wind. Things are definitely picking up. I feel like I've done as much as I'm going to do in terms of prep, but I worry that there are holes in my planning.

I have:

1. Filled the tub with water (though the drain thingy isn't a perfect seal so I've tried to jerry rig it so it doesn't keep leaking ... but it keeps leaking)

2. Bought asundry (?) things to snack on that don't need to be cooked but maybe not the most pratcial of things

3. Used additional containers so that I have plenty of Brita water filter

4. Located my flashlight and lantern, as well as the collection of candles that NC C. gave me for Christmas :)

5. Decided to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer until the power goes out or I get bored. I may also try watching Dr. Zhivago on Netflix...until the power/internet goes out

6. Moved my car a little so it's on a hill and not directly next to a tree

7. Took my car's title out of the car

8. Eaten cookies and had a glass of white wine

9. Poached a salmon and cooked some beets

10. Tried to get the deck a little less full of projectiles

And there you have it folks.

Spring in the Fairmount/Art Museum Neighborhood

After I pointed E. in the right direction, L. and I walked home, taking our time to soak in the sun and the pretty. Serious pretty was going on. Seriously.

Then we went to King of Prussia and bought shoes. And glitter. Well, I bought glitter. L. only bought shoes. I bought both, because that's how I roll. I can't wait for an occasion to wear my new strappy wedges. After the shopping part of our day was completed, we drove to Forbidden Drive and took a walk along the creek. We passed many a person fishing, and I made sure to take a few photographs of the newly green ground.


So. Funny thing. We were walking on the opposite side of the creek from Forbidden Drive. This meant that the path was far narrower and there were fewer people along it than the more well traveled/graveled Forbidden Drive path. As I already mentioned, we certainly saw a good number of folks. But the highlight of our walk is safely and surely when we ran into Chris. We didn't know Chris before he stopped us on the path and asked me if I was a photographer, but in the next fifteen minutes we got to know more about Chris than many people learn about another person on a first date. For example, Chris suffers from Lyme Disease. Chris was married for 28 years. Chris has a wooden walking stick; he had another one that he got from England in the early 80s but customs took it from him when he got back because it may have had some sort of bug on it or something. Chris likes a woman with curves. Chris and his 21 year old daughter bond over Jim Morrison and Led Zeppelin. Chris has lived in the area his whole life, and can tell you what the Fairmount park area and many of it houses were like back in the day. He also suffers from depression. He also realized late in life that all most women want is a man who will listen to them. Oh, you want to know another thing about Chris? He asked L. and me if I was her mother. Honestly. Honestly he asked this of us. He wasn't joking. Nor did he back down from the plausibility of that being the case when we guffawed and I acted vaguely offended (which I was). I think if it had been up to Chris we would still be jawing a week later, but we extricated ourselves and continued with our walk. And I swear to all that is swearable, if anyone suggests that there is any legitimate reason why a man would think that L. and I (born in the same month in the same year) could be confused for a mother/daughter team, well, shut it.

Snow Day on a Warm Day

Like most of the United States, Philadelphia saw some snow in February. Unless this was January. It's actually probably January. Except it might not be. I simply cannot tell you. Actually, it's January. I got up early enough to take a quick walkabout after one of the largest snowfalls. The sun was just coming out as men and women with shovels got out to start moving the snow off of their sidewalks and cars.



I mean, it's nice to look at, but I could easily do without snow. It's warmth I'm after. And green. Today, at least, the high is going to be 65. This pleases me greatly and to almost no end.

Sandwich and Snow

Another day, another lunch. This one was from Mugshots and was bacon and cheese and tomato. Or wait, it may have been from Rybread. I can't rightly tell you. That night it snowed.

Snow and Dinner c/o Kite and Key

As we left Chinatown the snow storm we were promised began to gather itself up and release its effects on Philadelphia. I went into the office to do some work for a good portion of the afternoon but by the time I left, got myself together for the nice dinner Dad and I were going to have at The Fountain and met up with him at his hotel, the snow was falling heavily and cabs were not easily found. This, sadly, meant that actually getting to the restaurant became rather impossible, as my father didn't have proper footware and it was just a little too far for walking.
So, instead, we went to Kite and Key. It was loud, we were put in a back corner with terrible light. We split a Caesar salad and hummus plate, which were both fine int taste, but nothing revolutionary.
The steak in my steak sandwich was pretty tasty.

Driving Westward on 40

Risotto and Storm Weather

The deal in Nashville was that my mother had a room at Hope Lodge and we also had a hotel room nearby. So, either my father or I would stay with my mother and the other would stay at the hotel. At one point, however, we gave up the hotel room. I took this gap in housing as an opportunity to go to Sewanee. I also needed to get a few things done at the house in terms of airing it out and cleaning it up a little, since my parents hadn't really been there since March. The first full day of Sewanee was a Saturday, which was when I drove to Monteagle to get a few groceries and saw the apocalypse dog. Upon my return I made risotto with portabella mushrooms and garlic, and a side of steamed broccolini. Then I drizzled the dish with truffle oil and grated a little parmesan cheese on top of that. I will not lie to you, it was good. It was real good.
Later on I drove to Green's View. This was the weekend of the flood in Nashville. Sewanee and its environs experienced many a tornado warning and cloudy weather, but not so much in terms of epic amounts of rain or flooding.
But it was definitely cloudy and blustery, as these photographs testify. 'I do solemnly swear that -though lightly photoshopped in order to highlight the cloudiness of the day - I was a witness to the cloudy weather of which cc speaks' is what the photograph would say in court.

Tornado Observation

It sure takes a long time for a tornado to actually appear. Or not appear. I'm waiting to go to my 'safe place.'

Permitted Walk Along Forbidden Drive

After dress searching, we went to the nearby Costco for a few things/snacks (sometimes I really wish that I could rationalize buying a five pound bag of frozen sausage patties...those samples are soooooo good), and then headed on over to Fairmount Park, particularly the Forbidden Drive area of the park. It's silly that I don't go out there more often, since it's way pretty and walking a few miles isn't hard when the weather's good and the looking's easy. It turned out to be maple syrup sugar day, which was funny since I was at the last event with J. and S. last year (I remember the flowers being so magical). I had every intention of buying more maple sugar candy, and taking photographs of the different tables...but by the time L. and I returned from our loop, the event had closed and all remnants disappeared. We probably walked about a three mile loop, she suggested it was more than that, but I have a pretty good sense of three miles.
This covered bridge was fun.
L. suggested that I get a photograph taken, I liked the idea.
Then we switched and L. did a bit more adventurous poses.


Statue/monument thingy way up on high/yonder. The people there waved at us.
We waved back.
It was a gorgeous day, and it was nice to stretch the legs a bit more than I have been. If it weren't supposed to rain so stinkin' much this weekend, I think I'd go back to Fairmount Park and explore a bit more. Maybe not explore. I wouldn't want to be murdered by accident. What? Shhh.