Storms of August
There haven’t been that many days in August and already we are scratching our heads as to what may be left for 
Mother Nature to spring on us. High winds are always a concern when there are mature trees. Our neighborhood was at one time a pasture on the edge of town. Yesterday’s Maple limb that came down didn’t damage anything. Our potting shed and patio were spared by a good 10 feet.
Dennis’ son trucks for Hartland Trucking. Though Ken lives in Arizona the dispatching takes him far and wide with him being out on the road for sometimes as long as three weeks. Yesterday Ken surprised us as he was headed with a load to Owatonna and had been given a layover so he could spend time with family. This morning Dennis went with his son in the semi to take the load to Owatonna and to also pick up a load somewhere in close proximity. Ken’s truck was brand new in November and this would be a great time for father and son to revisit their trucking days when Dennis had several trucks on the road.
I didn’t have anything planned and was enjoying a cup of coffee and looking through some mail. I couldn’t believe my ears. There was a chainsaw sawing and it was in our backyard. News travels fast in a small town.
Dennis’ son-in-law was busy making the sawdust fly. Thomas loves his chainsaw and takes advantage of using it whenever possible. The down side . . . when the chainsaw stops, Thomas is done with the job. He doesn’t help pick up the results of his sawing. I did ask him to hook up to the two wheel trailer and bring it up to the garage as the tree dump will be the recipient of the cut up limb. There was no reason for me not to begin loading the branches. Taking several breaks in between, the trailer is loaded and the area has been raked and no worse for the event.
As I walked back to the garage to help Thomas hook up the trailer, I could not believe what I had not seen earlier. The large Hackberry had a large limb that had been split from the main trunk. It was either hit by lightening or the wind tapped into a weak spot. Oh my gosh! Thomas looked at it and I told him to not even think about tackling 
that. That is a job for a professional. One that has a bucket and has insurance. No way am I going to be living with guilt on my hands if Thomas got hurt. It’s not a one man job. I have already put in a phone call to a fellow for him to come and take a look and give an estimate.
With everything handled and under control I came in for a glass of water and to peel off my soaked clothes to begin cooling off. We had a storm come through at 3:30 this morning. The wind, lightning and thunder was intimidating. What it left behind was two inches of rain and high humidly . . . and a splintered Hackberry. I knew I was getting warm while I loaded the trailer but did not realize just how warm until I was done. Getting on dry clothes, I looked out and low and behold Ken and Dennis with the semi loaded were parking at our curb. Ken will be using his dad’s pickup to pop in and see some family and friends before getting back into the semi and taking off for Chicago on Monday. It has been a full day for this Grammie and I am so thankful to be able to take each day in stride and get it done. It is a wonderful thing to have help when it is needed and I don’ t take it for granted. I make it right with doing sewing and quilting when I hear a hint of what is wanted. Right now I have a bag of t-shirts that Thomas’ daughter would like to have made into a quilt. Working with titanium knees and shoulders I am cautious with whatever I do. Knowing when to take a break is important. Some jobs might not get done in one day.