A Mighty Wind

We had 70 mph winds last night.   Our power went out, our house rocked like we were having an earthquake,  and we kept checking the orientation of the chicken coop to make sure it hadn’t blown over.   Poor Matt was restless all night long, but I did manage to sleep through it.
In the morning, everything that had been on the porch was scattered across the property.  The chicken coop shifted, but remained upright.  The barn had clearly rocked on its foundation – the brackets are bent and will need to be bent back to their original position and redrilled.

Because our power was out, I set out for the Craftsbury General Store for some coffee.  With so many coolers, one assumes that they must have a generator!  I found a long line and my neighbor the clerk writing IOUs because without internet service, their card machine was down!  But at least there was coffee, and soon I was more prepared to cope with all of the downed trees and detritus.  Matt took our new tractor out for a spin and helped the town crew to saw up and clear some of the larger downed trees.  I brought him his coffee and joined in the effort to remove a large poplar in a “widowmaker” position.  He and Tim from the highway department leapfrogged with the saws to make manageable chunks, and I was tossing the chunks and brush off the road.  A group of motorcyclists stopped because of the blocked road, turned their bikes off and lent a hand.  The tree was all gone in a few minutes -a testament to teamwork!