Dead branches

Rising from bed with the flush of flu and glancing out the window at falling snow covering already covered trees, branches, and street,I notice for the first time a pale brown gash in the oak tree across the street, more than a foot wide.

Nothing too strange, but what a relief!

They have finally done it - removed the heavy branch that overhung the road and the entrance to my driveway. We just had heavy snow and ice, and now more snow. Was it a year ago that I started calling the city's forestry department and the electricity company to try to have the dead branches removed. Not only did they remove those branches, just in time I think, but they took off the entire limb.

How often I had imagined children, dogs, dog walkers (notice the order of importance)and cars being smashed by those decayed branches falling. And just when I was not noticing, somebody removed the entire limb. It might even have been the homeowner whose backyard the tree resides in.

Now, if I can only get the city to remove another heavy dead limb overhanging the street next to ours....

First Snowfall

First all-day snowfall of the year - steady falling, silent snow.

Things look quiet, clean, and calm outside, and a bird or two has found a perch on the bare branches of the cherry tree out back.

With a soft red sofa, two good books in hand, and holiday music in the background, it's possible for a while to forget the current craziness of a downspiraling economy, looming layoffs, and uncertainty in the future.

One reason to like the change of seasons - the first calming snow of the year.