windy day

the leaning tower of birdhouse

The Sunday after Christmas was an incredibly scary windy day. We woke up to the rush of wind through the tree branches that lasted until evening. We heard on the news that wind gusts of seventy five miles an hour were recorded at the airport which is only a ten minute drive from our house. Every time an especially large gust rattled our house, we held our breath and waited for one of our tall stately pines to topple over onto the family room roof. Late in the afternoon or maybe early in the evening (whatever you call around 5:00 p.m.) I went for a walk because the wind had died a little bit. I encountered roof shingles and gutters, toppled outdoor Christmas trees, newspaper boxes and wreaths. Ellicott Creek was way up and rushing so fast that it resembled white water rapids and spray was shooting up in the air. Our poor bird house that has stood for the twenty years we have lived in this house and probably many more years before that was blown over and bobbed about throughout the day. On Monday B took it down entirely. Come spring, what will the poor birdies do? Poor things.