Mother Nature Strikes

You would not believe what happened. The giant tree in front of our house--the one I blogged about where the owl lived until I scared him away--crashed down on our house at about 9:45 P.M. I was working in my sunroom office when the ceiling started falling down, pieces of it hitting my head.

We are all fine. Dan and I are staying at our neighbors Patsy and Andy's, which is so nice of them. The whole thing is terrifying; our house is apparently condemned and we can't live in it for a while. The massive tree fell through our attic, ripped the roof off, the stone chimney toppled into our side garden. Had we been lying in our bed, we could have been hurt, because big pieces of the ceiling came down where our heads would have been.

We're in shock; it hasn't sunk in. Fig's friend Margaret was over, and they were doing makeovers or masks or something in the bathroom. Thank God we are all safe. As the police officer, Mike, said, "People you can't get back. The rest of the stuff, you can."

We packed up our important things: wedding album, family photos, computers, jewelry, some clothing, and at the last minute, I ran back in for Sugar's little dog coats. Our neighbors are so great. Julie came right over and helped me think clearly--get your checkbooks, your checks, bills, medicine, the photo of your mother. She and Andy ran back and forth bringing our stuff to Patsy's house.

We have great neighbors, a tight block. Gary hugged me, Amy hugged me, Anna hugged me, John hugged me. I haven't called my Dad; he will be very worried. I've been trying to call Sis all evening, even before this happened, but the call to Connecticut wouldn't go through.

Love, Alice