Lil' Ike

Morning came quick. I rolled out of bed around 7am after waking several times just prior to. I was happy to be up early so not to waste valuable time that could be spent working on my lawn restoration project. 

The house was in pretty darn good shape even after last night’s party. The only remnants were the coolers still resting in the kitchen and the table in its customary ‘party’ spot. Otherwise, we were back to normal. I made coffee and then exercised right away. It was cheerfully sunny and warm even at such an early hour. I enjoyed some coffee and quiet time alone before the kids or Mindy got up. No one else was up until well past 9am. At that point I could hear little feet scurrying about upstairs. By then, I had already finished my run and started playing on the PC.

 I checked the Ohio Mulch webpage and learned that they didn’t open until 11am. My plan was to borrow my dad’s trailer and then pick-up a load or two of top soil to spread about a half inch layer over the entire area to be restored. Mindy soon joined me downstairs as did the kids. She mentioned her willingness to help me in the yard if I wanted it. Yes. I left for my dad’s around 10:30am. I invited Jacob but he declined the offer. 

My dad wasn’t home, but I took the trailer anyhow. He knew I’d be coming by for it and some of the available fill-dirt too. Ohio Mulch was open even though I was a little early. I was back at home with a yard of top soil by 11:10am. I quickly gathered the materials I needed to spread dirt: the wheel barrow, shovels, and gloves. I grabbed two rakes as well. Pushing the full wheel barrow up the slight incline was rough at first but like anything, once I got into a rhythm it went much smoother. Meanwhile, it was heating up quickly and the humidity was a ruthless as the day before. The only solace was the ridiculously stiff breeze out of the southwest. There were gusts of 30-40 mph predicted. 

I blew through the first yard of top soil in a hurry. I left to fetch another around 12:30pm. Mindy helped me spread the second load. That proved to be almost the perfect amount. The area was ready for seed. I plan to pick that up Monday after work. 

 Not wanting to waste valuable project time as summer wanes, I left for my dad’s only this time to fetch a load of fill-dirt left in his yard by the county after the road widening project. I would use this dirt to raise and level off the severe slope on the west side of my home where I built the 16” support wall. Jacob agreed to come along. 

Dad was sitting out back by his shed when we arrived. I pulled up to a much smaller pile when he directed me further back to a much larger pile. Cool! He has plenty. The only problem is I’d have to shovel it in one scoop at a time and then repeat the steps once I got it home. Jacob helped after dad fetched him a smaller shovel. Jacob helped himself to some of dad’s fallen apples too. I filled the trailer only about half way. That took thirty minutes or so. 

Once we were back at home, Mindy rejoined the project. For this I was pleased. I filled and wheeled the barrow full of dirt to the area of concern while Mindy and Jacob did the spreading. During our efforts the patio umbrella blew out of its table mount and deep into the yard. At the same time, my large potted Hibiscus plants kept blowing over. That was our first clue that the wind was picking up – literally. J 

After emptying the trailer of fill-dirt it was apparent that we’d need another trailer load or two. But I was whipped for now and happy with the afternoon’s progress. I put away all the tools then headed inside for a much needed shower. 

We left for Gloria’s and Sunday dinner just after 4pm. Just before leaving the house our power went out. We attributed the outage to the strong winds now blowing. It was getting a little dicey out there.  I made sure to take my drywall tools and the stipple brushes that I borrowed from dad so that I could texture the ceiling I repaired several weeks ago. We were the first to arrive. I went right to work. 

Meanwhile, Gloria’s power was out as well. And along our drive, we spotted several large trees limbs blown down. Gusts were being reported up to 70 mph. While I textured the drywall repair the rest of the family members arrived. And with every passing moment the winds only seemed to get stronger. Dinner was severely delayed and handicapped due to the lack of power. We tried to order pizzas but nothing was open. Businesses as we’d later learn were shutting down. Gloria’s neighbor has a gas oven and agreed to finish cooking Gloria’s roast beef. We gathered for our weekly family feast without the benefit of light, AC, or circulating air. Through it all, however, we hardly noticed what we didn’t have. Instead, we enjoyed the closeness and the food. After dinner I snuck a nap on the lower level while most others congregated outside on the covered patio. The wind was blowing and tossing tree branches and building materials everywhere. While I rested, I could here the stiff winds and an occasional crash. I joined the rest of the family after my customary ten minute nap. I felt recharged. Jacob and I tossed the winged football while others talked and looked on. We had to dodge flying tree branches a number of times. After 30 minutes outdoors we headed in for dessert – chocolate sheet cake. Yummy! I had two pieces. 

We left for home just after 7pm. Mindy talked with our neighbor Crissy who informed her that our power was still down and that we had large tree branches down in our backyard. However, she was quick to point out that none hit our shed or our home, which was of primary concern. 

Bella and Jacob agreed to walk Ykraps while I was busy toting everything in from the Trooper. Mindy found the heavy hot tub cover blown off, the plants blown down, and chairs strewn about. I didn’t find out all of this until later. My focus was on removing the fallen tree branches. My neighbor Carl came over and told of all the trees knocked down in the subdivision. The yard looked similar to the aftermath of October 2006’s hail storm that stripped the trees of their greenery.  There was debris everywhere. My neatly manicured yard was everything but. Mindy and I drug all of the large branches into a pile at the back of our yard. I figured we’d saw them up tomorrow. We headed back in hopeful that our power would be restored very soon. The neighbor reported AEP telling her 6pm. It was nearly 8pm and we still were down. We headed in with the kids around 8pm. I was certain the power would restore promptly. 

The kids were reluctant to head to bed without power. Bella was especially bothered that she didn’t have her night light. We gave each kid a flashlight for their room. Mindy lit candles about the house giving it a bit of a romantic feel. There wasn’t much to do besides talk after the kids were in bed. We headed to bed after some conversation. I checked NFL scores via my Blackberry. Until then, I had no idea how the Vikings fared since power was out after 3pm. Last I heard they were shutting out the Colts 9-0. Crap! They lost in the final seconds 18-15.  That bothered me more than it should’ve.