And THEN, a tree fell on the house

Oh, years from now, we'll tell Bea stories about the year 2007. First there was the complicated pregnancy, then we almost fell into the Mississippi on a bridge, THEN a storm came and knocked a huge tree on our house... On Tuesday night there was yet another severe storm here in Bloomington. We had escaped the first few storms relatively unscathed while huge trees fell all around us, but it was not to be this time.

Matt and I woke up at 3:00 a.m. to incredible winds (later estimated to be about 70 mph). I grabbed the baby and chased Bullet into the basement. Matt ran around closing windows, then joined us. We were only in the basement for a minute when we heard a loud BOOM! Matt and I looked at each other and said, "That can't be good" - something had obviously fallen on the house.

There were about 15 mature trees within striking distance of our house, including a sickly large black walnut tree in the neighbors' yard. I had been so worried that the black walnut would fall on our house that I went to talk to the neighbor about it on Tuesday. But, I took heart that we had a big maple tree, with a 3+-foot diameter trunk, between us and the walnut tree -- for sure the maple would break the fall of the walnut.


When the winds died down a little, Matt went up to survey the damage. And, he didn't come back or say anything. I just heard him and Bullet scurrying around the house. Eventually, I called up.

Melissa: "What happened?"
Matt: "Stay downstairs, the tree outside the kitchen window fell on the house and I don't think it's safe."
Melissa: "The neighbors' tree?"
Matt: "No, ours. The big maple."
Melissa: "Oh dear."

From our kitchen bay window all you could see was trunk and roots. Our big, beautiful maple was now leaning precariously on the corner of our second story -- hovering over our three-seasons porch, family room, and garage. Matt began furiously calling emergency tree services. My Dad came over to check it out and helped us move valuables out of the family room. Bea, Bullet, and I went to Mom and Dad's for the night. By 7:00 a.m. the next morning, a huge truck was in our backyard cutting down what was once the pride of our yard. The tree guys couldn't believe that the maple had fallen and the walnut was still standing. Neither could I. In addition, another huge tree in our yard, an ash, was now tilting toward the house and the roots were pulling up. By the end of the day, the maple, the walnut, and the ash were all gone.

I counted the rings on the trees. The maple was more than 85 years old; the ash was 46 years exactly; and the walnut was about 30. We had already lost a smaller tree in the last storm, so now our backyard is so empty!

The maple fell on the roof above our upstairs bathroom and Bea's room. With the exception of a few cracks, you can't really tell from the inside. I'm really impressed with the skill of the tree guys -- I thought for sure the maple was going to fall on the lower level of the house when they tried to move it. We are so lucky it didn't do any more damage and that the ash didn't fall, too.

Bea and I will particularly miss the maple. Its branches touched the windows in her room and she loved the to watch wind in the leaves. In the mornings the birdsong always helped her go back to sleep. Now her room is so bright in the morning that it almost hurts your eyes.

The pictures include a picture of the tree leaning on the house, a close up of the damage, a picture of the branches hanging over the porch, a pic of the tree guys and truck, and a picture of the maple and walnut trunks still standing amongst the branches.

IN OTHER NEWS: Bea has made great headway this week in a lot of ways. Most noticably, she now confidently grabs for toys and is talking up a storm. Unfortunately, she is also drooling up a storm and having tantrums every night starting about 9:30 p.m. Take the good with the bad, I guess!

That's all for now!
Melissa