The knock out week

Smash! Crash! Thud!

I can’t even find a word that fits for the sound of the biggest fir on the north side of my house falling. And then the tallest aspen. My big project for this summer is building a car port, and the fir and the aspen and quite a lot of their nearby friends had to be victim for the chain saw to make room for what I hope is going to make my winters a bit easier to deal with.

I was still in my bathrobe watching that big fir falling. Bertil and Clas came rolling unannounced with the saw and the tractors before I was even out of bed Tuesday morning last week. Well, I had asked them to do it for me, they just forgot to tell me when. And they are early birds, so…

So, before breakfast, in my bathrobe I watched the forest fall. It’s been there all my life and generations before me and now it’s gone and it leaves me unsteady and staggered. Although I know it’s for a good cause. It will be good. It will be very good.

Bertil and Clas are not just early birds, they are also intensely fast and do I dare to say, in their excitement over knocking down such tall trees, a bit wreck-less. So, in a few hours the trees were down and so were my telephone lines. I have two of them, one for the house and one for my business. Before the evening I was standing on a small clear cut without landlines. All wobbly.

Wednesday was quite an intense day too, on the cell (oh how I hate being on the cell for hours, no, no way, this was proof to me that I am not a modern human being, there is no way I will terminate my land lines) with confused airlines and cheery renters to wrap up a Seattle-stay for myself (!), so waking up Thursday morning I asked for a peaceful day. A day for recuperation. The reply was instant.

Crash! Or whatever. This time it was above my house. A terrible thunderstorm, arriving as unexpected and fast as my loggers, parked right over my house. Me again, in my bathrobe. Running around the house pulling cords from the outlets. Bu too late. This was bad. This was really bad.

Digital box. DVD. The radio part in my amplifier. Two telephones. A spotlight dimmer system in my bathroom that’s not possible to turn off (!). Several outdoor lighting. Broadband. Airport. They were all knocked out. That is, what I have found out this far.

So, Thursday evening my house was quiet. No landlines. No Internet. No television. My home here at the end of the road had turned into a summer cabin.

Saturday morning. My doorbell is ringing. Here we go again, hopping out of bed into my bathrobe. I am very surprised to find two Polish guys on my front porch. I can’t help laughing. It’s been a lot of unexpected mornings this week. I’m not sure what scared the poor guys the most, my crazy laughter or my bathrobe. But, in a few minutes I had my landlines back! And Sunday afternoon I had replaced all my broken communication tools. Being without them for four days had been an interesting experience. And the week had been a knock out one.