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]

Removed Arbor Vitae at Front of House

  Many years ago - after we had removed all the English ivy from the chimney and the front of the house - Mom and I bought two tiny arbor vitae to plant on each side of the chimney. In hindsight, it was a mistake. They grew too tall and covered the front windows. Or it could be we were the mistake for not trimming them.

 I wish I knew what year they were planted. It was certainly at least two decades ago as I remember they were here - and not small then - when Dad died in 2011. Perhaps I can find some old pictures that will answer the question.

 I have been telling Tom that they had to go but he objected: he loves all living things and there wasn't a thing wrong with either of them ... besides being twenty feet tall. And he said he hated to see a lack of privacy. The front windows have curtains,  I answered. Plus we have no neighbors nearby.

 Here is how the house looked this morning as I set out on my walk. It was a breath of fresh air for me to see the front of the house bare.

03/08/26

 Now let's go back in time and have a look at the front of the house nine days ago:

02/27/26

 All four windows were covered. I couldn't wash them if I wanted to. But more importantly I couldn't see out any of the four.

 Here is how we cut them down:

03/08/26 (this and the rest)

 To prepare for the chain saw, I lopped off the lower branches, beginning with this bush on the south.

 Now Tom was able to be in close with the chain saw.

 And ... ZIP! ... it was gone as quickly as magic.

 Tom suggested maybe we could leave just one? Nope. I have to have balance and that would have bothered me no end.

 Another quick cut and the arbor vitae were no more. Decades of growth gone in an instant.

 Compare this picture to the second picture posted above. Now this looks good to me. Don't like it? It's too late to care.

 Finally I can get to my windows and wash them! And easily, too. No pulling a prickly bush aside while I try to work.

 Does the house look a  bit bare? Even naked? That's OK.  We can perhaps consider planting something else. And since I don't expect to live for decades, it's likely I won't be the one who has to worry about it.

 The only remaining problem are the two stumps ...

 I figured the roots would not be deep but I'm  finding the wood hard and tenacious. This one (the north one) sits partly on the concrete base the brick veneer of the house was built upon. So I have to be careful. What I suspect I'll do is bury them as much as possible, plant grass seed and wait for them to rot naturally.

Record-breaking Snowfall

 They've been talking about it for days and this is one forecast that nature honored.

 Officially, the NWS recorded 6.4" of snow at the airport at 7 am. That record for the day was set just three years ago, on 01/25/23.

 By 11:00 am the record set during the blizzard of  1978 was broken: the airport stood at 13".

 I woke a couple of times during the night and could see the heavy snow falling, blown to the east by a gentle wind. When I got up at 6:30 am I went outside to shovel and took my own reading: 8.5" here at Pinehaven.

 But it has snowed  all morning and at 2 pm, when I measured again, I have recorded 14.5", closely matching the NWS figure.

 Here's how it looked thoughout the day:

First light:

Mid-morning:

 Mid-afternoon:

 It depends on where you measure but this reading is a good average: nearly 15" (but we'll say 14.5" to be accurate).

 There is a drift on the kitchen roof that has to be extremely heavy. I certainly can't get up there so it'll have to melt slowly.

 The back yard looking north.

 Look directly out the driveway towards S Clayton Road. No one has come to plow us out. But how could they get here? Montgomery County is under a Level 2 Snow Emergency:  only essential vehicles.  I've only heard a plow twice so virtually nothing is moving.

  This is our garden area, already asleep but now put into a deeper one.

 Looking westward across the back yard.

 Pinehaven sits snug in the deep snow.

 I often use our picnic table as a  snow board but, as deep as it is, it seems to have had snow removed by the light wind as it fell.

 A close-up look at the drift on the kitchen roof.

 That's the drift from inside Mom's bedroom.

The Morning After:

 Here were other CoCoRaHS snow measurements at 7 am this morning. My figure is the 8.5 is the mid-left.

Help arrives (01/26/26):

 Yesterday DR Coffman plowed out three of our neighbors to the south. But the day ended without a visit. Today about 2 pm I saw him arrive and begin plowing out Millie, our closest neighbor (above).

When he finished he came out to Clayton Road and then turned into our driveway. Help had arrived!

 With a plow and snow blower he was able to make quick work of our driveway. In mere minutes we  again had access to the road.

 I offered DR "money for gas" but he wouldn't take anything. "You're a neighbor," he said.

 Tom and I dug his truck out by hand and he left to feed his cats. It's a great feeling to know we're free to leave whenever we need to.

Later:

 When I went upstairs late in the day and looked down upon the drifted snow, it made me think I was on a ship at sea ad I looking upon a breaking surf.

After the storm (02/04/26):

 It's been 11 days since the snowstorm and finally "warm" enough during the day to go outside and get some work done, else just enjoy the sight of the melting (actually sublimating) snow. That said, I recorded eight consecutive days with daily lows below zero and that equaled (but did not exceed) our record run in 1994.

 Even now, we're having cold nights (we briefly bottomed out at 6° last night). But by the time I got up at 7 am, the temperature had risen to 22°. Today is sunny, calm and in the mid- to upper 20's.

 Here are some views from today, now that we can finally walk again ...

 I dug a path to the burn barrel so that Tom could burn our paper trash. I have been collecting it in the garage but it was getting too great an amount to find a place for. Tom got it all cleaned up.

 Our driveway allows for easy access again. Tom has been getting out with the truck and now I find I can get my Chevy Cruze out, too. But yesterday,  when I took cupcakes to DR Coffman (who initially dug us out) I got seriously stuck in his driveway  and needed help getting back onto the road.

 A wider view of Pinehaven from Millie's lane. I've been getting Parker out there daily for a walk and she loves trotting along, especially now that it's not too hard on her delicate pads.

 Well behind Pinehaven (on the left), the fields still lie deep in snow. But Millie's lane has been plowed several times and the high spot in the middle is even showing gravel and grass. That makes walking much easier.

 A final view of the house when I returned. The snow isn't nearly as deep but it's holding on.

Aurora Repeats

  For two nights the aurora again showed itself in the Dayton area. Nothing was extremely impressive but any viewing of the Northern Lights here is a rare event. I recorded it both  nights and rather than pick and choose, I'll post everything I took so you can see how it came and went and eventually faded away.

January 19:

6:53 pm

7:26 pm

8:04 pm

 Pretty much gone ... but hope springs eternal.

8:30 pm

9:02 pm

January 20:

6:46 pm

6:49  pm

 This shot shows the vertical nature of the "curtains" of light.

6:49 pm

7:04 pm

 And it's gone!

7:22 pm

7:23 pm

 A little pink residual glow ... but not enough to bother with.

7:59 pm

 Now the clouds are moving in ...

8:46 pm

 By the end clouds had covered the sky and any observation of the aurora was over.

 Both evenings showed high Kp numbers (I saw an 8.0 on 01/20). On 01/19 the Bz stayed positive as long as I  watched but went negative on 01/20. Those are perfect numbers. I was probably a bit too far south but in my opinion anything is worth watching for.

Credit: Google Gemini