It was a cold and windy day...

Okay, it wasn't at all cold. But HOLY WOW, was it windy! This tree was standing tall in my yard this morning. Early this afternoon, it fell, ripping up the ground and displaying its roots.

Here's another view. The tree doesn't look all that big, but I assure you, it's been there for years. The building next to it is my garage. There are only a few feet between the tree and the garage. I got VERY lucky today.

Here is the top end of that same tree. The wind appeared to be blowing from the west. That means that in this picture, the wind would have been blowing into THIS side of my garage. Yet, the tree fell so that it's pointing northwest...TOWARD the wind mostly. I know that obstacles can make wind do strange things. But I'm still surprised that the tree didn't fall into the street to the east.

Here is another picture in our neighborhood. Jeff was standing in our yard pointing the camera into my neighbor's backyard. Their wooden swing was tipped over (far left) and they had a couple of large branches/limbs down.

I don't have pictures, but one of the annual Arbor Day trees in the school yard split right down the trunk and is now lying on the ground. And another neighbor has a branch/limb the size of a small tree lying in their yard as well.

Just a year ago, I had a very large portion of an old, dying tree fall between my home and my neighbors home. I spent several hundred dollars having three trees taken down. Since then, we haven't had any tree issues...until now.

We lost power this afternoon for a few hours. Most of the Colts game actually. Lucky for us, power was restored with less than two minutes left of the game...which was tied. This was an amazing revelation since the last time we checked, the Colts were down 15-0. (We'd been keeping tabs on the score via my son's cell phone.) So this 15-15 score, ball in the hands of the Colts, was a very pleasant surprise. We only got to watch a very short portion of the game, but it ended very well for Colts fans. Colts beat the Vikings, 18-15!

I'm not sure if it's due to the power outages or the downed trees, but Jeff's school has a two-hour delay tomorrow. Best news he's heard all weekend. I on the other hand, have to get up early and get to work. I'll deal with the tree another day.