A Green, Powerless World
The rest of the day was a strange mix of manual labor (cleaning up), exploration (biking south to my apartment and Rice), and communicating with our extended circle of friends and family (lots of phone calls).
Not in any particular order, we managed to pile all the branches in one place on the lawn, we cleared several storm drains of leaves, and we raked lots and lots of those pesty leaves. Communicating with everyone by phone was a strangely cathartic experience. It's hard to convey the mixed sense of awe and relief that one has coming out of a storm like Ike. It will have to suffice to say that we appreciate the kind thoughts of all our friends and families.
The exploration part of the day deserves a bit more explication. We avoided clogging the roads with our car, opting instead to bike to check on my apartment just north of Rice. What we saw on the way was not unlike what we saw near Loren's house: many branches were down and some entire trees had fallen, but not too many vehicles or houses were directly damaged. This isn't to say there weren't such tragedies. For instance, the BMW crushed by the fallen oak that did manage to miss the corner of the house on the way down. Or the dead end street cul-de-sac blocked by five fallen trees. Or the corner of another house clipped by yet another tree. And wet, green leaves, though not tragic, seemed to coat everything, everywhere and provide some iconic definition of this storm to remember it by.
The number of people out and about was astounding. For once, many people (though there were numerous obnoxious exceptions) went without the use of their cars. There were far more pedestrians and bicyclists than we're accustomed to seeing. Some people were simply gawking. Others were already hard at work clearing their yards and streets of Ike's detritus. Many people seemed inclined to chat about their experiences. If there's any redeeming social effect from Ike, it will be people having met their neighbors from outside the confines of an air conditioned vehicle. Hallelujah!
I also found the variety of reactions to clean up interesting. Some people just went to work. Others gawked and figured someone else would come take care of it. Others, like us, did a little bit of both. In our case, we hope that the city of Houston or the power company, will be able to take care of the still hanging, but broken branch near the power line. We did clear some storm drains and concentrate the mess into piles, but we still have a lot of work to do. The branches will need to be cut, and that fig tree will need to be sliced and diced for removal.
Finally, I'll tell you the story of two worlds. I intend no judgment of either because both groups of people worked hard today. The driveway of an apartment complex two doors down on our block was entirely blocked in by a fallen, 100 foot tree. The trunk was solid and there were numerous branches. A group of men went at the trunk with machetes flashing and handsaws jamming. Opposite our backyard, one block away, a smaller, but not insubstantial, tree had fallen over the neighbor's car. One man calmly brandished a chainsaw as he cleared his driveway.
Not in any particular order, we managed to pile all the branches in one place on the lawn, we cleared several storm drains of leaves, and we raked lots and lots of those pesty leaves. Communicating with everyone by phone was a strangely cathartic experience. It's hard to convey the mixed sense of awe and relief that one has coming out of a storm like Ike. It will have to suffice to say that we appreciate the kind thoughts of all our friends and families.
The exploration part of the day deserves a bit more explication. We avoided clogging the roads with our car, opting instead to bike to check on my apartment just north of Rice. What we saw on the way was not unlike what we saw near Loren's house: many branches were down and some entire trees had fallen, but not too many vehicles or houses were directly damaged. This isn't to say there weren't such tragedies. For instance, the BMW crushed by the fallen oak that did manage to miss the corner of the house on the way down. Or the dead end street cul-de-sac blocked by five fallen trees. Or the corner of another house clipped by yet another tree. And wet, green leaves, though not tragic, seemed to coat everything, everywhere and provide some iconic definition of this storm to remember it by.
The number of people out and about was astounding. For once, many people (though there were numerous obnoxious exceptions) went without the use of their cars. There were far more pedestrians and bicyclists than we're accustomed to seeing. Some people were simply gawking. Others were already hard at work clearing their yards and streets of Ike's detritus. Many people seemed inclined to chat about their experiences. If there's any redeeming social effect from Ike, it will be people having met their neighbors from outside the confines of an air conditioned vehicle. Hallelujah!
I also found the variety of reactions to clean up interesting. Some people just went to work. Others gawked and figured someone else would come take care of it. Others, like us, did a little bit of both. In our case, we hope that the city of Houston or the power company, will be able to take care of the still hanging, but broken branch near the power line. We did clear some storm drains and concentrate the mess into piles, but we still have a lot of work to do. The branches will need to be cut, and that fig tree will need to be sliced and diced for removal.
Finally, I'll tell you the story of two worlds. I intend no judgment of either because both groups of people worked hard today. The driveway of an apartment complex two doors down on our block was entirely blocked in by a fallen, 100 foot tree. The trunk was solid and there were numerous branches. A group of men went at the trunk with machetes flashing and handsaws jamming. Opposite our backyard, one block away, a smaller, but not insubstantial, tree had fallen over the neighbor's car. One man calmly brandished a chainsaw as he cleared his driveway.
posted by Pascal Mickelson at
16:13
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