Finale of a Spectacular Sunset – Photo: L. Weikel

If I Didn’t Know Better

It’s almost midnight and the towering pine trees across the road from our front door are leaning away from the surging wind, bending and hoping they can withstand the relentless onslaught coming at them from the west. If I didn’t know better, the sound of the wind punishing those trees make me think of angry surf pounding the beach during a Nor’easter.

We already lost our electricity once this evening. I’m grateful it was restored within fifteen minutes. We’re lucky; I know. As I listen to our windows rattle and the air bombarding us literally causing a “Wooooon-oooo” that sounds like a stereotypical ghost, I just hope the trees in our area can stand firm.

Our walk this afternoon revealed lots of broken limbs shattered on the roadway. Probably not unrelated, we also found at least three different chunks of plastic trim from automobiles near these smashed branches. I’m not sure if they were there last night when we walked. It was too dark for us to notice. But it’s a fact that we scour our roadways daily, so I’m thinking these trees did some damage to passing vehicles yesterday.

Sky Fire Sunset 1 – Photo: L. Weikel

What a Difference a Day Makes

Just yesterday, before we took our walk, we were initiating our porch to the 2021 spring season. We knew we needed to get some porch time in as expeditiously as possible because the forecast for today was precisely how it played out: dark, wet, and dreary early, with a dramatic shift in temperature and temperament late this afternoon.

The sun and light yesterday kept shifting and changing in every moment, to the point where we were practically on sunset overload. We were so enchanted by the ‘sky fire’ that we ended up taking our walk later than usual. I was thus relegated to taking most of the photos of the sunset from our porch – all but the final shot, which I took as we walked ‘widdershins’ – counterclockwise – around our usual circuit.

Sunset Sky Fire 2 – Photo: L. Weikel

Lion or…?

March may still have an opportunity to go out like a lamb this month. We have a couple more days left for it to change its mind and tame its ways. But between trees that have been ravaged by the Emerald Ash Borer and the soft ground left even more juicy by all the rain we’ve had, I think the chances of us remaining unscathed by the temperamental attitude of this month is slim. It feels like a potential Lion in/Lion out this year. But we’ll see.

Sunset Sky Fire 3 – Photo: L. Weikel

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