Saturday, February 14, 2009

The Misadventures of a (sometimes stupidly) Independent Mom



Clean up after the ice storm is well underway. This is the second Saturday I have spent clearing tree debris. We had a total of five of our beautiful trees in our yard damaged by the ice storm. Countless other trees in the field were broken and damaged. A tree cutter guy from South Carolina gave the low bid to cut the severely damaged and broken limbs. He completed his work yesterday. I asked him to keep the tree pieces smallish so that the girls and I could manage to remove them ourselves. He did a great job. We are piling the debris near the road's edge. The city will remove any debris within a 12 foot easement of the road. Hooray for the city! This kept the cost of clean up relatively low since removal costs were not included.



These pictures don't adequately capture the amount of tree debris. Piles are everywhere! All up and down our street and the next street and the next street look just like our street... piles of broken and cut limbs and branches.

That brings us to the misadventure. Since the littlest magpie spent last Saturday helping mom clear tree debris, I did not ask her to help. CeCe had homecoming last night and was still sound asleep when I got started, so I was on my own. No big deal. A couple of neighbor offered to help, but being the independent mom that I am, I declined their kind offers. I can do this myself. (I thought, sounding like a toddler.) Clearing began around 9:00 am. The first hour and a half were pretty uneventful. Most of the tree debris from the cut tree tops in the backyard near the house was relocated to the drainage ditch near the road. Trip after trip after trip to the ditch I went sometimes carrying sticks and limbs and sometimes dragging them. I took a little break when I finished the tree debris near the swing set.

After the break, I decided to clear out the tree tops near the back field. They were a little larger and more cumbersome to maneuver, but still I knew I could get it done. One top after the other I scooted, pulled, pushed, and drug to the roadside. Then I met my match. This particular top was spindly and long, probably 12 to 14 feet long. It was a chore to get it started. I pulled and pulled and pulled until it finally gave way from the earth that it had impaled when it fell. Now we were moving right along. To get it turned length ways so that it would lay properly near the road, I had to navigate the tricky graveled terrain near the barn. This is where my strategy came up short. I did not account for the smooth driveway in my efforts. I was pulling the tree down the hill with my back facing the road walking backward. Once upon the gravel drive the amount of effort it took to pull the tree minimized, but my efforts did not. I tripped over some branches and limbs and fell with the large tree top coming to rest squarely on top of me.

Well, that tree top was pretty heavy and I had to kick and twist and wiggle to get out from underneath it. The wiggling part is when I realized that the tree had snagged on my pants and had pulled them down just enough for me to embed some gravel in my tailbone! YIKES! I quickly yanked up my bottoms, but not before thanking the Lord that I had on cute panties! You know that is really important. If you are gonna moon the neighbors, make certain you are wearing cute undies! Thank you, thank you Victoria's Secret 5/$25 sale!



Well, the yard is roughly half cleared and I have all day Sunday to get it finished. Things are looking up! In addition to getting that task well on the way to completion, I saw little signs of SPRING! I lovelovelove SPRING! Jonquils cover our yard. A sea of bright yellow does wonders for the soul. I am hoping the Farmer's Almanac is wrong... very wrong with the prediction of two inches of ice on February 28. I believe we have had enough ice for a while and I have had enough winter. Today was sunny, warm and beautiful. Just the right kind of day to give me SPRING FEVER!



But we all know that it takes bad times to appreciate good times, cold days to appreciate warm ones, and humiliating experiences (such as unintentionally mooning your neighbors-- even with cute panties) to appreciate the days when you feel like a wallflower... or dandelion.

Life is beautiful and fun and sometimes just a little embarrassing.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What determination! In the "end" (pun intended) the task was accomplished. Always knew that once you set your mind to something, it WOULD get done, no matter the circumstances.
Was there a camera present for the "unveiling?"

Anonymous said...

p.s. I guess the "Sexy Mama" award does fit you well.

Anonymous said...

Hahahaha ... well that was a funny read. Glad you are ok. Got to be more careful, sometimes those tree will attack! LOL

Girl Rants said...

the way i see it you were prepared. lol! hope you arent sore from your fall today ms independent!
your the boss of these branches, thats why.

<3

3 Magpies said...

Anon: WooHoo! The tree debris clearing task is 90% complete as I type this. Just left some too big for 3 Magpies stuff laying around. I will get that cut and moved by next weekend. We still have maybe four more trees that need to come down, but that is for another season...

Punky Boy: Write a script and I'll help you market it "Attack of the Killer Trees". Can't you see a cheesy black and white zero budget cult classic being born right here???

Girl: Always be prepared! The Boy Scouts motto proves true once again!

Anonymous said...

i'm glad you didn't get hurt! maybe with the big branches, you should have asked those neighbors for help.
but then... you would have had a bigger audience when you fell.

Unknown said...

A huge project and a lot of work, never mind the embarrassment. You are Okay! :)