Day 102

Another day, another tree down . . . 

Last night, I woke up at around 3:30 a.m., and for some reason could not get back to sleep.  I tossed and turned for about an hour, and finally at about 4:30, got up out of bed and went to another room to read for a while.  I figured if I could just re-set my mental timer by reading until I was tired again, I'd be able to  get back to sleep.

I had just finished with my reading, a profile of climate scientist James Hanson by Elizabeth Kolbert,  when I heard a crashing noise outdoors and suddenly the whole house plunged into darkness. Having been through this numerous times before, I knew instantly what it was - a tree had fallen somewhere in the neighborhood.  It was 5:00 a.m.

I got dressed in the dark, grabbed a flashlight (I've learned by now to always keep one with fresh batteries in a spot I knew I'd be able to find in the dark) and went outside to investigate.  No trees were down in front of my house, and the power lines on my road were still up.  I then noticed two cars heading my way from a side road, unusual for this neighborhood, especially at this time of the early morning, and realized that they must have detoured from the main road - the tree had apparently fallen across that street.  

I walked up that way and saw that I was correct - a very large tree had fallen across Collier Road, taking down power lines and entirely blocking the street.  Several cars, the earliest of early morning commuters, tentatively approached the fallen tree, saw the predicament, and turned around to seek another route toward whatever destination they were headed. 

I went back home and sat outside for a while.  I meditated as dawn lit the sky and the sounds of bullfrogs in the creek gave way to the sounds of songbirds.  I haven't experienced a sunrise like that in quite a while.  I went back inside at around 7:00 and was finally able to sleep. In fact, I slept until 11:15, and the power was still out.

I was just settling into my day without electricity when the lights suddenly came back on at just about noon.  The power had been out for 7 hours.

No idea why the tree decided to fall when it did.  It wasn't raining (it hadn't rained for at least 36 hours) and there was no wind to speak of.  But for some reason, the trunk of that tree had suddenly just snapped.  A neighbor posted a doorbell video on Next Door showing a car passing the tree not two seconds before it fell.  It's fortunate that no one was hurt, and that the tree hadn't hit  house.

Internet and cable were restored by 4:00 a.m.

Impermanence is swift; life-and-death is the great matter.  This world of appearances seems to be stable and fixed, but in fact is in constant flux and change.  Things fall apart.  Flowers, while cherished, fade and weeds, although despised, flourish.