Monday, November 14, 2011
Weird day, sort of. I had a nightmare last night and woke up sitting bolt upright in bed, images of big sycamore branches in my head. I didn't remember anything about the nightmare other than that, but it was so strong. I went right back to sleep, though. Then when I was getting ready for Brandie to come to install my new blind behind my desk, the phone rang and the caller ID thingy said "Glastonbury," so I assumed it was Brandie calling to say she'd be a little late or something. I picked up the phone, and it was The Glastonbury Citizen! Last night I faxed them Grandma Whaples' reminiscence about the 1938 hurricane and my cover letter, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but it wasn't expecting it at all and was practically speechless. I don't even know who the guy that called was, although I'm sure he must have told me. [I think it was the editor.] He LOVED the article (I think he said it was "fantastic") and thanked me for sending it and wants to run it as soon as possible. He even wants to find an archival photo from the hurricane to accompany it. He asked me to clarify what the boys' names where (Grandma had hand-written them in above the "eight year old," "five year old," and "baby" descriptions in the article and he could read the Donald and Gene parts but wasn't sure about "Randy Wilbur." I bet Grandma wrote "Wilbur" and then my mom made her write "Randy"! I told her his name is Randolph but she called him Wilbur because he had the same name as her husband, and he asked me if he was a junior, and I said yes. He also said he kept expecting everyone to get food poisoning from the hamburger that lasted two weeks in the freezer without power!
Posted at 10:51:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I had to pick up a book at the library today, and while I was there I went in the Glastonbury Room for a short while and picked up a few books from the shelf, just sort of by random. One was a kids' story about the Charter Oak (I had no idea what it was about when I picked it up), starring the Wadsworths! The other one was Glastonbury: From Settlement to Suburb, and I turned to the part about the 1938 hurricane to see what it said. !!! Wow. I actually feel a bit better about all the tree damage around here, after reading that. It was SO much worse:
As it turned out this great emergency effort [the flood of 1936] was in effect a dress rehearsal for another major disaster two years later - a hurricane. Ten days of heavy rain in September 1938 had soaked the ground, swollen the brooks and weakened the earthen shoulders of dams. On September 20, a cloudburst dumped tons of water on the forested hills of East Glastonbury, source of Salmon and Roaring Brooks. It was just too much for the ancient dams along the streams. Most of them gave way, and bridges were washed out along with adjacent roadbeds. The next day, September 21, the hurricane struck.
Like all towns in the path of this monster, Glastonbury was hard hit. Hundreds of the ancient beautiful elms and maples over-arching Main Street went down, blocking the road completely, and the up-rooting and smashing were repeated all over town. Telephone and power lines were destroyed, gas mains damaged and many houses and barns damaged or demolished.
The next day the Connecticut River once again reached a very high flood stage, inundating the same areas which had suffered two years earlier. This time 96 houses were flooded and 900 people were evacuated, according to official report. This flood disaster posed a tougher job because of the tangled jungle of trees, wire poles and incredible debris. Lewis W. Stevenson, first selectman for many years... handled the emergency with speed and calm efficiency, directing the now experienced Disaster Committee.
Only the old-timers now remember the magnificent old trees, many of them planted centuries ago, along the town's principal thoroughfare, Main Street, once one of Connecticut's loveliest. These scars of the hurricane still remain, though a tree-planting project soon afterward got under way. In time these young trees may return to Glastonbury streets their former grace.
Trying to go back and fill in some of my missing ALB entries, so I can post. I got caught up to the beginning of the snowstorm and posted about five days, at least. It isn't so bad if I do a little at a time. I have been uncharacteristically down for the past few days, since I visited MY TREE. It just makes me so sad to see all the broken trees every day while driving anywhere. It's actually kind of better driving around in the dark, because I can't see the trees. (Although it's horrible how early it gets dark now that we've set the clocks back!) Things don't usually affect me that much and I'm usually a very cheerful kind of person, but this really bothers me and wears at me. Seeing all those hurt trees day after day is so dispiriting. There are just so many of them, everywhere. I cringe every time I drive by the triangle at Woodland/Hopewell/Coldbrook and see that poor tree in the center, one third of its body split off on either side. And I groan when I go by the trebuchet mailbox's yard, now dominated with horribly mangled trees. But they're everywhere. Lining every road. All over people's yards, or still hanging precariously, or stacked in piles along the sides wondering if the town will come and pick them up to haul them away. Everywhere, there are pale gashes where branches have spilt off or trees have snapped off partway up the trunk, wounds that might expose the survivors to insect damage or fungus or rot. They're conspicuous against the dark trunks and you can see them from a distance. There's just so much. I'm glad I live where I see so many trees every day, and I'm glad I care about them so much, but it's just hard.
Posted at 2:21:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
We started to set up our new bird feeding station today. I am kind of begrudging towards the birds, but I like that we got a bat for the filial on top. :)
Just put on my new sheerling slippers for the first time, and it feels like walking around on cat feet, all padded and soft. Dean got them for me at L.L. Bean when we were in Maine because my feet have been really cold lately. But, he also brought his foot warmer home for me to try under my desk and it's so great that I haven't even put on the slippers until now! But wow, the slippers are nice when I'm away from my desk.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Helping Dean set up our new bird feeding station. The ground was so rich in the spot we chose that we ended up screwing it in four feet deep and had to go out for an extension pole! It's nice and stable & level though.
Posted at 5:32:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
