When Solstice Winds Blow

On Sunday evening we  went to a pot-luck solstice party at Pamela’s and George’s farm house.

Pot lucks taste delicious!

It is always wonderful to get together with our friends and neighbours and to catch up, to swap renovation stories, listen to poultry tips from the growing group of people who keep chickens, and to hear ideas about how we all might collaborate on artistic ventures in this upcoming year.

A glass of wine, a fire and friendly folk

I was enjoying myself so much that I wondered what on earth people were thinking when they started drifting home at 8:30. When I asked the party-poopers what they were doing, I heard variations of “there’s a storm coming and I don’t want to get stuck in snow on the way home” or “there’s a storm coming and I want to make sure the chickens are OK and fed before I can’t find my way to the barn”.

Luckily for George, he was already home.

I figured that people were fear-mongering and  taking this weather stuff  just a little too seriously. Still, I looked out the window and noticed that the snow was blowing sideways so Larry and Jesse (who is visiting us for the holidays) piled into our car for the 10 minute drive home.

Jack Frost at the window

We had a couple of large hills to negotiate. The trip was rather harrowing. The night was black, the snow was dense, the high winds were loud and we barely got up the high, slippery hill. The ride gave us a chance at some ‘family time’. I was in the back insisting that Larry “don’t go so fast….we’ll fly off the edge of the road”.  Jesse defended his dad with “mom, it’ll be harder going back down the hill in neutral…hide your eyes!” Larry, used to the histrionics, was calm and drove with purpose. We held our collective breath while listening to the wheels spin just before we hit the crest of the hill. Exhale. We finally got home and 1/2 an hour later, the extremely high winds took the power out and continued to howl all night long.

Blowing snow

The next day we were snowed in and by lunchtime the power was back. We figured we had come through relatively unscathed. How wrong we were! Our friend Peter called us to break the news. We had lost our two beautiful, 100 year old oak trees. The wind pushed over these giants like they were mere match sticks. Together their fall had snapped the hydro pole and the hydro wires had been ripped from the house in what must have been a very dramatic whiplash motion.

The remains of the wooden hydro pole poke up from between the trees.

In true Bear-River fashion, when Peter saw the trees down, he rigged up some non-electricity-dependant heat to save the water pipes from bursting before he’d even called us.

We checked out the scene with Jay, who you may remember as our high-stakes tree climbing friend. He emphasized over and over again how lucky we were that the trees had fallen so neatly away from the house.

Before the wind reached these trees, the  freight-train sounding wind had passed by the house of our neighbour and blown open both of her front doors. 

Here is a photo taken a month ago of the two oak trees. You can see that the one on the right has a natural lean towards the house. The wind pushed the trees in the opposite direction from the house.

It must have been a very strong wind because this is what the trees look like now.

The tree is as hard as a rock

It still feels upsetting that these magnificent, old oaks are done. And this is where the question of the glass being half empty or half full comes in. I wondered if the trees crashing down was not only our bad luck, but a negative comment about us being in the house. Jay, our tree friend, believes that the trees coming down is evidence of our good luck. He says that not only did they land in the best possible spot in the yard, they fell in a direction that he would never have predicted. “I can’t stress enough to you both how very, very lucky you are about how these trees fell. It’s unbelievable.”

Larry and Jay survey the scene

Larry reasons that because we have made so many changes to this house such as taking down 144 year old plaster and 144 year old chimneys, the trees decided it was time to let go and to move on. And Don, with his comic relief says “I stopped by the house last night. You should fire the gardener.”

In the meantime we will share the bounty. Some will go to John who makes beautiful wooden furniture using 19th century tools. Perhaps our woodturning friends Phyllis and Robert can use some. We’ll contact the local saw mill to see if we can get any lumber  to incorporate into the house or garden.

Last night at 10 o’clock, Larry worried that the pipes might freeze inspite of the temporary heater. He phoned Don for advice. Don said “Pick me up and we’ll go and check it out…and bring flashlights”. Together they drained pipes in the cold basement and took other freezing prevention actions. That’s what it’s like living here. People are ready at the drop of a hat….or tree…to come and help.

Right now we are waiting for Nova Scotia Power to hook up the electricity again and it was still snowing today. Here is the snowplough to the rescue while I worked on this blog piece.

We actually are very fortunate as to how things worked out. No one was injured, the house is intact, and the trees will resurrect as beautiful objects.