Phew!

We made it through unscathed. Relieved is an understatement. I called our camp neighbours Andrea and Dwight yesterday morning at 10:30am and things were wild but they didn't have anything to report. At around 2pm Dwight called me to say he had just done a walk-around the properties and other than a few big branches we were still holding up. They lost two trees but neither hit the house or shed. Dwight thinks Kharim's rope work on the trees helped keep ours from crashing down.

Holding down the fort

I took a photo today of Kharim and his handiwork. There's another rope behind him attaching the tree to another big one. That one makes a good clothesline. Our power was on this morning in the city so we had no trouble getting packed up to go to the camp. We arrived about noontime and it was very sunny and still very windy. That surprised me a bit because it was hot and calm in the wake of Juan in 2003. The bummer was that the power had just gone out an hour before we arrived.

After Kharim upgraded the poo pipe, we had lunch and then made our way over to the beach. We ran into Doug, Mary, Steve and Tracy on our walk out the road. There are a few more trees down on their properties. And some that were probably leaners from Juan. I think that was a big factor for a lot of the trees on East Chezzetcook Road. We saw a lot down and a lot more leaning. The chainsaws down there have been busy because it looks like many were crossing the road, but were cut and cleaned up before we drove through today.

Anyhoo, the ocean isn't bathwater warm anymore. It's still nice, but not that pre-hurricane warm that I was hoping to get in on. Diego was still liking the water and waves though. The wind was high so we had to bundle him up in a towel after an hour of playing because he started to get too cold. 

I was really hoping we'd get power back so we could spend the night but we were out of luck. After a nice visit to Mary and Doug (and their great baby swing!) we had a yummy barbecue dinner and packed 'er in. 

I did get the driveway mowed and Kharim secured a vent on the trailer and paddled his surfboard across the lake. All in all a good day. Just not as long as I'd have liked.

New sand bucket and lots of waves

Praying to the tree gods

Hurricanes Earl, Fiona and Gaston 

OK, so I'm freaking out a bit. I'm scared shitless that Hurricane Earl is going to hit and wreak havoc at the camp. There are still a lot of trees there and one I'm particularly worried about. It's the tall, weathered tree behind the camper that I'm worried will come crashing though the roof.

Tree in question: skinny one, back left

It's a pretty innocent looking tree in this photo. But it's bigger in reality and I'm pretty sure it could do some damage if Earl pushed it the wrong direction. So I've been agonizing over whether or not to hire someone last minute to chop it down. I'm against chopping any remaining trees because they've become so precious, even when they have that east-coast-past-their-prime-weathered look. 

So Kharim has volunteered to use some rope to secure it against some other trees there. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we get out there in time to do it and, in the chance that the winds hit hard, it keeps the tree off the camper.

What I don't want is a repeat of this:

Boathouse tree fell into driveway in 2009.

Property in 2009. Skinny tree, back left is pictured.

And the crazy thing is that six trees fell last year. Significant yes, but nothing compared to the 40-plus that we lost in Hurricane Juan. I have some some great photos of the aftermath but they're not digital. I'll try to get 'em scanned in.

So (at the risk of pissing off my friends in Yarmouth) I'm hoping Hurricane Earl stays south and continues up over the Bay of Fundy while dying off.

And while I love hurricane season for the warm ocean water and big waves, I tend to get nervous about this time of year. Fingers are crossed that Earl, Fiona and Gaston are kind.

Wish us luck.