The Picket Fence Mostly Unscathed – A TW Photo

She was just beginning to leaf out for the 2021 season.  I wonder if she felt disappointment as she fell.  Or, maybe it was time and she was resigned. I’m not sure how old she was.

It seems as though that tall alder tree had been growing in the old berry patch for as long as I can remember, right next to her sister tree.  But, of course that can’t be right.  Funny, how you never have just the perfect photograph to refer to when the time comes.  And our memories are so foggy now.

Carol W. and I Take A Look –  A TW Photo

Nyel was actually outside and within a few dozen yards and even fewer minutes of the crash, but he didn’t see or hear a thing.  He was on his way inside — ironically, to get out of the wind.  His phone was ringing by the time he reached the kitchen and it was Tucker with the news.  It all happened just across from the Driscoll and Wachsmuth properties.  Part of her broke off near the ground; part of her uprooted.  The picket fence stood firm, even though she landed squarely on it.  Tucker called the PUD to tell them that the transformer had been skewed on its cement pad

“No damage.” said the PUD. A TW Photo

I went out to take a look and already one of the workers at the place next door had cut some of the branches to clear School Street.  “So cars can get through,” he said.  It’s on ORF property —  on the northeast corner of Territory Road and School Street. I think Chris has offered to do the cleanup.  That property was overgrown with blackberries all during my childhood and even into the not-so-long-ago — hence the name “the berry patch.”  A lot of pies and jellies and jams came from there.  But that was BG (Before Gentrification) and probably before the alder tree.

I wonder what she was thinking as she fell.