Ike Hits Syracuse

Overnight Sunday into Monday the remnants of Ike passed over Central New York. The storm had long since dropped the 100 MPH winds that ravaged Galveston but was still strong enough to tear branches from our old Weeping Willow.



We woke to find the entire back yard covered in branches and the trampoline and a few chairs toppled.



Somehow, the stubborn dead branch that had snapped in an early spring storm refused to let go.



With the rainy weather Monday, we didn't get a chance to clean up until Tuesday evening. I told Hannah that "if we all work together, we can get it done before it gets dark."

She soon figured out that it was "no fun at all;" so Stacey told her to sing a song. "We're working in the yard work and not having any fun at all," was how her song started. We did get her to pick up a few branches and somehow kept Ben from poking anyone in the eye.



We did finish before dark after more than doubling the size of our brush pile. Not bad for an evening's work.



I'm still looking forward to the day when I can say "I'd like you kids to have the back yard cleaned up by the time I get home from work." For now, it was still nice to have the kids around, even if they only "helped" to pass the time more quickly.