Blue Spruce Down

  On March 13 we had very high winds that took one of the Blue Spruce at the western edge of our property down. While the peak gust recorded on my Tempest was 48 mph, the NWS station at the airport in Vandalia officially recorded a gust to 77 mph. That's hurricane speed.

03-14-26

03-14-26

 Since those winter winds laid this tree down against the one beside it, it has slowly fallen farther.

04-13-26

 Yesterday DR Coffman was using his backhoe in the field behind us and he stopped and asked whether we wanted the tree knocked the whole way down so it would be more accessible for cleanup. I told him to go head. One good nudge and the tree was on the ground. the roots standing vertically.

 When we got home from pizza with Bob and Chris and after a game of cards, Tom wanted to go out and see how much he could get cleaned up. We have two 100' extension cords and I carried the chin saw back and Tom got to work.

 I think I planted the tree soon after we moved in, probably in the late 1980's. Spruce and pine are not doing well here, probably due to the climate change.

 A couple of hours later and the tree was cut into manageable pieces and those hauled off to our wood pile.

[more later]