Albert’s Halloween

Have you met my “friend” Albert?  Perhaps he lingered in your neighborhood last weekend, or maybe he paid you just a brief, but memorable, visit.  One thing’s for sure,  you would have recognized him immediately.

  Pretty funny guy, that Albert.  He decided to blow through our town last Saturday and dump 12 inches of pure white snow onto our fall landscape.  Since the trees hadn’t quite yet lost their foliage, huge branches bent like licorice sticks under the heavy weight of the wet snow, and our beautiful dogwood tree peeled apart like a banana.  (buh-bye dogwood tree)

But, oh, that was nothing.  You should have seen the power lines snapping and swaying in the gusty breezes (go Albert…go Albert).  And the electrical transformer at the top of the pole provided a dazzling display of sparks and flashes that easily rivaled any July 4th fireworks extravaganza.  Beautiful, really.

When all was said and done, we had to leave our home for 8 days.  Yep, 8…traveling like vagabonds (with our little dog, Buddy) from hotel, to hotel, to friends, to family…waiting, wishing, hoping.  UNTIL, yesterday, when the men-of-men came along in their cherry pickers, wearing their hard hats, showing no fear of those live dancing wires.  Heroes, each and every one.

So, Halloween 2011 came and went.  No little trick-or-treaters.  No huge personalized jack-o-lantern cookies that I had prepared to bake.  And no more dogwood tree.

Just a wacky winter storm…that they call Albert.

“A”