Greetings From Clarence, NY

We’re in Clarence visiting Grandma Sehl for Thanksgiving.   

We brought both cats with us, and the little buggers kept us up all last night, since they had to sleep in the same room as Beth and me.  Between the sleep deprivation last night, the tryptophan OD from today’s turkey feast, and the effort of raking leaves in the backyard, I have passed beyond exhaustion into some weirdly profound state.  I’m expecting the walls to start bleeding anytime now. Maybe the plastic saints on the dresser will start talking to me.

This part of New York took a big hit from the early snow storm a few weeks ago. Mom Sehl was without power for over a week.   A lot of big trees came down. Almost every tree lost some major branches.   People have filled up lot lines with cut-up trees. 

Most of dad Sehl’s fruit trees sustained severe or fatal injuries.  Unfortunately all the cottonwood trees survived.  Dad hated those trees. They clogged the gutters, dropped twigs all the time and the seed pods made a hell of a mess.

Since dad is now enjoying  his  eternal reward I know he doesn’t mind, but it makes me kinda sad. I’m holding out hope that the fruit trees send up suckers in the spring, and the Cottonwoods succumb to their injuries. 

Mom had a utility pole come down in her back yard, and Beth and I spent some time (being long time utility employees) critiquing the repair job. We didn’t approve of the guying methods.  We grumbled that the pole wasn’t grounded. Beth questioned the number of skirts on the new insulators.  It’s easy to be critical when you’re not the one freezing in the dark while climbing a pole to get the lights back on.