At a little after 7 this morning as I was heading out the front door with the dogs to walk them a huge white truck pulled up in front of my house, and then one, two, three more trucks. The man driving the big white truck rolled down his window and I asked him if they were from the city. The giant pines in my yard along the road had branches dangling dangerously into the street and they had come to take them down. No, it wasn’t the city, it was FEMA.
It is a fascinating thing to watch them work because as a number of men and women poured out of the other trucks they walked up and down the area in front of my house. They were pointing at things and hollering back and forth to one another. Apparently there are the guys who run the trucks and cut down the dangerous pieces of hanging trees but they can’t do anything until the FEMA people look at everything and tell them what they are allowed to cut. And it’s not some of the things you might like them to cut, only what is in danger of falling in the street and impeding traffic or making it dangerous to drive. But I had another problem. A huge pine, these pines grow way high into the sky as you will see below, had gigantic limbs dangling down over my driveway. The rules are they cannot come onto your property to cut anything, only along the road, but they deemed the dangling branches so dangerous over my driveway one of the men said if the branch fell it could kill someone or crush a car. When they were done cutting along the street they backed into my driveway and cut down the huge hanging limbs. In the picture above they had cut down most of it. I wish I had had the presence of mind to take a video but it was very early, I hadn’t been expecting them, and frankly was just kind of shocked by it all. I so deeply appreciated them taking down the limbs over my driveway because it hadn’t been safe for the dogs and I to walk out there.
Here is what the pines look like in my front yard and there are several of them and they are close to my house and could have fallen on it. A number of them need to come down and these are my responsibility but it is very expensive to take even one down so what will happen with them I’ve yet to figure out.
I came back inside after they left feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude I barely knew what to do with myself and then the doorbell rang. It was Drew from Port City Proud a volunteer organization that is helping people all over town. I was literally stunned by the numbers of cars that pulled up and the people who just filled my yard with rakes and wheel barrows and tarps. I didn’t have the presence of mind to photograph them before they started because people were talking to me and asking me questions but the pictures below were them in the front and back yard as they were finished cleaning up. Giant tarps, many of them, dragged debris to the front by the curb. My beloved green gated garden which was smashed by the tree that fell against the house was broken down and carted to the front after the giant pecan tree that fell against the house was taken down just after the hurricane. (Money was raised by my dear friends Lila and Bekah who organized a GoFundMe campaign to pay to have the tree taken off the house.) This is what it looked like as they were finishing up with their amazing work today…
Many more trees need to come down but this is not work they will do, I will have to pay a tree service to do that. Here is the tree that fell on the house and the green gated fence it crushed that used to be a darling garden area. It got broken down and carted out to the road today…
More pictures of the trees down for perspective of what is being dealt with here (And you can see the giant pines towering over the house from the front. These need to be taken down and it was a miracle they didn’t fall on the house.)…
Looking out kitchen window after the hurricane…
And there was so much more, but this is enough for now.
Recovery is happening, amazing people are showing up to help, angels are appearing, and I am deeply grateful. What FEMA and Port City Proud did to help today was nothing short of miraculous. To those of you who sent donations to help take down the many trees that still need taking down, and fixing the back yard fence that trees fell through and the big double gate that is now unusable and so much more you have my undying gratitude forever. I have created a fund for repairs, especially tree removal which will be a long term process. God Bless you all.
Deepest blessings and much love. Now we just keep moving forward, one day at a time…
(Once upon a time there was a sweet green gated garden. It is but a memory now…)
The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
Maitri,
Miracles have been in the process to help you through all this. They will keep coming G-d willing. Bless those wonderful workers. Bless you as you travel down these uncharted paths.
Hugs,
Lauren
Lauren,
People kept asking from the beginning, before the hurricane even hit, what they could do. I said, “Pray.” I believe in the power of prayer with all my heart. Yes, I have a mess here and a lot of trees that need to come down and so on like everyone else in this town but I also had a giant tree come down and not go THROUGH my house and I am alive as are my dogs, my daughter and her family. And a number of lovely people have made donations, and people have come to help. Yes, it is scary, but each day there are blessings and little miracles along the way and this is not lost on me. Thank you dearheart for all that you have done. Love and blessings and a big gentle hug to you…
Wonderful, indeed to have the hanging pine branches that were dangerous removed and your landscape cleaned up a bit. I’m grateful for both FEMA workers and the Port City folks.
Thank you so much dear Lisa and yes it has been such a relief and a blessing. As I just wrote to Lauren above despite it all everyday help comes in both little and big ways, and we are inching through the cleanup. Today was a huge day. There is a lot more to be done but it already looks worlds better than it did right after the hurricane. Onward and upward, I am grateful for it all, and I am so grateful to you honey. Love and blessings to you, always…
Maitri,
I am so thankful you had a day of much-deserved miracles. Isn’t it amazing when angels appear?
“Angels walk among us. Sometimes the only thing we may not see are the wings upon their backs.”
~Molly Friendenfeld
Rest easy, my friend. Angels are watching over you! 💕
Thank you dear Maggie and yes it is truly amazing. It has been a very long day and I am very tired but deeply grateful. I seem to be keeping “Hurricane Hours” which is what I am calling them because for a week with no power there was nothing to do but go to sleep early (You can only read so long by flashlight!) and then I’ve been getting up around 7ish and then get sleepy early again. Nothing is the same as before the hurricane, sleep patterns included.
And what a blessed relief it is to be in the presence of angels. They are felt, and appreciated more than I have words to express.
Love you honey…
Miracles – oh, how beautiful this is, dear Maitri. You endured yet another of what my mother used to call WLEs (worthwhile life experiences – the ones we dread but which teach us so much). Angels are appearing into your so-very-deserving life.
Yes dear Cathryn there surely are miracles and they are deeply appreciated but, well, it is a little early on for me to consider this a worthwhile life experience, it’s all just been too hard and there is so much heartache and destruction here, people have died and lost their homes. But there surely have been blessings in the midst of the hard times, and the angels being here is one of them…
Wow!
Indeed!
ANGELS, ANGELS, ANGELS and more ANGELS!! They are surrounding you always and look what they brought to you! Earth Angels too!!
I am so happy that these miracles are happening for you. Maybe that beautiful garden is no more but another can be just as pretty. No you may not be able to think about it now. Let’s see what your ANGELS have for you next!!
You are Blessed and I am so happy for you.
Much Love, Jean
Thank you dear Jean and yes these sweet angels here yesterday worked wonders for getting things much more cleaned up. Still so much to do but now things are starting to look better. I was just thinking this morning how odd it is with the little green picket fence torn down and removed, it was so much a part of the garden, like after the fire when I lost the Magic Ship too. One more piece of the magical garden I created here gone. Now I have some pots of things on my front porch and I think that is enough. My days of creating large magical gardens has passed I think which doesn’t mean I can’t have a few pots of flowers here and there but it’s a stage of life thing too. I’ve always written but I’m far more dedicated to my writing now, this is what my life feels like it’s supposed to be now. And of course it is way too early to know anything about what life will be like here now. There is so much yet to be done. One day at a time is all any of us can do now, and yesterday with all the lovely help it was a very good day…
i am literally crying tears of relief. this is a beautiful story. all those people CARED about you, maitri. Every one of them who showed up… and your trust in humanity went up a bunch of notches. when a community cares for their own, it creates bonds of unbreakable tenderness. i am rejoicing. and yes, i know there’s a long road ahead. but it just got a little easier…
xo
ka
Yes dear Katya these Port City Proud people are helping people all over town, truly they are angels and with their help and FEMA’s yesterday it really made a difference, and yes there is so much more to do here, so many things to fix and deal with but yesterday helped so much. The sense of neighbors and community now in this town is one of the gifts that came out of this terrible time and it will not be forgotten…
M. xoxox
Wow!!! And YAY!!! for FEMA and Port City Proud!!! (and looking at that photo of your garden- you may have some surprises come next Spring. Those flowers may pop up again!)
Dear Lorraine yes, it was an amazing day, and the help was immeasurable in moving toward recovery. Still a lot to do but yesterday helped so much. And now that garden area will have to be cut back and cleaned up. Whose to say what may come. Right now I’m just glad that garden gate was removed. It broke my heart to see it all crushed like that. One more lost garden dream like losing the Magic Ship after the fire. Things will never be the same in this town, so much was lost. It will be interesting to see where we are a year from now…
I’m so happy for you Maitri. It’s wonderful to read all about your day today. Here’s to earth Angels 💕
Thank you dear Moira, they were angels indeed and I am very grateful…
So glad you’re okay and things are being done to help you! So sorry about your garden gate! Big hugs!
Thank you Suzy, a gentle hug to you too…