Palmdale, MN

No, PLEASE...Do not get me wrong. I am not complaining. I know there are a lot of people who have had it much harder than I have with this last storm.

Today was the second day of cutting wood. That isn't all bad as it is a jump on this falls firewood for my furnace.

WE had a lot of help. I cut for 11 hours, I kept 4 people busy pulling branches and stacking wood. I used a gallon of gas and sharpened my chain 6 times. (Those of you who cut firewood knows how much that is.)

After all that work, I still have the tree in this picture laying in my front yard! Why?! Because once again we have been out helping neighbors clean up. You see, several neighbors had it a lot worse than I did. One lost 27 60-70 year old trees on a lot off less than 2 acres. He also had one go through the roof of his house. After I got the tree off, I enlisted others to water proof the roof with tarps until the insurance company can get there.

The power in our ares was our from 5 hours to over 35 hours at my place. Again, I know people who still don't have their power yet and consider myself fortunate.

One thing that did happen is we reconnected with our neighbors. In this fast pace world we don't keep in touch. So in some ways this was a blessing in disguise. m ( A slap on the head would have worked also)

In a disaster, do you know who in your neighborhood you can call on? If not, this is something that could save your life. Talk to your neighbors and get to know each other at least casually. Many doors could also open!

The tree in the picture is a Blue Spruce. Planted at 2 foot high 37 yeaers ago. It was 41 feet 8 and 3/4 inches tall. (YES, I measured it!)

2 long days of cutting wood. & full cords of wood cut and split in the shed, and now it's time to play. The party is at my house...Air hockey, darts, pool. May the best person win. All in fun. The biggest winner will be the ones who get to one of the 3 sofa's first for a nap. Family time is quality time...Set up a time tonight!