Sandy . . .

The October 2012 hurricane came through, and left a heavy cloud.

I let the anticipation of her arrival, and then her actual appearance weigh heavily on my shoulders. This was the second hurricane in just over a year that I prepared for on my own, and then waited for it to be over.

By the time all the rain and the wind was gone, I was in a terrible funk that has taken three days to step out of.

Yesterday, after the rain stopped, I took a walk around the house to see if there was any damage. My poor butterfly bush took the most beating. I trimmed it back and tried to get it back into the ground. Last year when it came up, I had help from a neighbor, but this year I was on my own.

Today I took all the branches to the back of the property where the yard waste goes. While I was back there, I found a thin, tall tree that had been snapped in half and fallen on the wire fence. I did what I could with that, and then I tackled all the oak leaves that covered my driveway. I think I've decided that I don't ever want to live in another house that has Oak trees all over the property. 

I filled the wheelbarrow seven times with leaves and acorns, and made the trek to the back of the property seven more times. All I kept thinking was that although, I am very happy that the house and the property weathered another storm, I am not enjoying being here and taking care of all the maintenance, both routine and emergency, all alone. Having a three level house and a half acre of land is a lot for one, middle aged woman, but add hurricanes, earthquakes and whatever else has come through here in the last year, it's much, much more than I want to deal with alone.