In the Wake of Hanna

Tropical Storm Hanna really didn't seem too tropical from our perspective. It came and went over the course of the afternoon. It made for getting completely soaked while we did some shopping yesterday, and there was some standing water on the roads (read: we got great big splashes while we drove!!), but otherwise, it was pretty tame. It wasn't windy at all for the longest time, and once the wind did come, it still wasn't as bad as some of the typical summertime thunderstorms that roll through.

By evening, the sun was coming out. There was a very pretty sunset, and the air left behind was so nice and fresh, completely countering the stuffy humidity we had during the storm. There were maybe a few random, very small branches on the ground, and more leaves than normal, but by evening, the roads were already looking dry, like nothing ever even happened. I was just thinking that Hanna did absolutely no damage in our area at all, when I was proven wrong. All the years we've driven to church, we've passed one house on a corner that has what we've called "the Moose tree". It's a nice tall tree, but only has a couple large branches at the top, that stick out and look like antlers. And the rest of the tree is covered in typical Maryland tree-smothering vines, so that once the vines get their leaves in the summer, this tree looks like one giant moose head. I've been meaning to take a picture of it for something like the last year, that's how much of a landmark it seems to our family. Every time we drive by - Look! There's the Moose Tree!! So you can imagine how much my heart fell when we came down the hill and saw that the storm did in fact do damage - the Moose Tree fell. That was the only tree in our 10-15 minute drive that had fallen. There were a few branches that broke from other trees, but typically pretty small branches.

ONE tree fell down that I saw, and it was the ONE tree our family just loves to look at and admire - the ONE tree I've been meaning to take a picture of for the last year or so, just so we could remember it after we're gone.

And it fell down before I ever got around to it.

I briefly considered writing a poem, "Lament of the Moose Tree" (for truly, our hearts lament!) Though I'm not sure I have enough words for it. So I settled for making a rough drawing in Photoshop, instead.

We'll miss you, fair Moose Tree.