Thankfully, I spent more time raking the leaves on Friday evening. Yesterday the rain did not hold off until lunchtime like I thought it would; torrential downpours and high winds greeted me when I woke up in the morning. Today is not much better on the wind front; while the sky is plenty sunny, the winds coming through are just as bad as I used to get when I lived in Rochester, New York.

There is a tree across the road that was snapped in half during a storm some months back. The top half of it is barely attached to the truck and swings down rather haphazardly. When it is windy, I thought that I could hear it creaking in the wind, and have considered climbing up and finishing the removal of the top half. My own laziness, no real need, and the fact that I do not own that land all combined to keep me behind my own property line. When I ran by this morning, though, I discovered that the creaking noise was coming from a different tree anyway. That tree is still intact; it just likes to creak in the wind.

There is a tree across the river from me that has been swaying mightily as well. This is really surprising to me, since the tree’s diameter is over 30 inches. I can understand the branches at the top blowing in the wind, but looking out the wind you can see the base of the trunk moving back and forth. The tree looks vibrant, so I doubt that it is rotting inside.