After the windstorm

The weekend after the BIG WINDSTORM is for CLEAN-UP.

Electricity went off and on (and only to part of the house, as not all phases worked), so it took us most of the next day until we realized that we really weren't pumping any water from the well after all... No wonder, look at the damage to the wellhead, before & after we got the tree off!

Well, first things first, gotta get the tree down OFF the well before we can call in the electrician. So after de-limbing the tree, which now makes a great climbing object no kid can resist, our good friend came over to help with the task at hand. Note the fashion: hubby & friend are both wearing the quintessential Alaskan "uniform": Carhartts!

But where to start? After some thinking and discussion, it was decided to start with an undercut below the well head. Even after the trunk was completely cut thru, nothing moved, as the tree was still resting on 2 sturdy limbs. So after some pushing & heaving, they finally got the first part out of the way.


As the forester, I had to get in & count the rings, of course. This cottonwood was about 65 years old. Ok, now the job can proceed.

Next came a high cut between the well head and the fence. Phew,that's done -- now here the guys are trying to pull the tree trunk from the fence -- alas, it took pulling with the 4 wheel drive truck to get it unstuck.

Now "all" that remains is to cut the tree into rounds for firewood. Wolfman got right to work at the chopping block. You know what they say about heating with firewood: "it heats you up twice: first when you chop it, then when you burn it."