The CrabAppleLane Backyard
What was once one of my favorite views.
The hummingbirds were here throughout the hurricane. We saw one fly up to the window struggling mightily against the wind just after the hurricane started but I had taken in the feeders. I told Patsy I was going to put out a feeder but that I would have to take it in if it started banging against the window. It never did and they had nectar throughout the storm and they were quite happy about that.
This is CrabApple Lane. I an facing west and it is blocked by several downed trees. I have a neighbor back there beyond those trees.
This pine tree fell right into our pond
A pine tree leaning on the power line. This is on Hwy 21 about a mile from CrabAppleLane. A rather common sight after the hurricane.
The doors crinkled up on the firehouse. Not sure what caused that. Not sure what causes the swirls on the bricks in this image, either.
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| Facing west from my loft window during the hurricane | Facing west from the loft window a little later during the hurricane |
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| Still facing west from the loft window a little later. Trees down now. | Facing west from the loft window a little later |
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| Facing west from the loft window a little later | Facing west from the loft window a little later. There's a branch in the middle of the image that had broken off of another tree early during the hurricane and is balancing itself on a branch. It stayed there throughout the hurricane and is still up there today. There were thick woods in the west that shielded CrabAppleLane from the evening sun. Most of that shield is gone now. |
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| This is facing north through my master bathroom window. That branch in the center of the frame was the first one to hit the ground. It's not really a branch. It's the top of the North American Sweet Gum tree in our backyard. That tree is about 20 feet from our back deck and Katrina gave it an awful beating. When this happened, I heard a crack (A sound we heard throughout the storm) and, then, a thud. | Branches and trees fell all around my truck. One branch hit it on the driver's door right at the mirror but did no damage. |
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| That branch on the ground to the right is the one that hit the truck. | The branch you see on the ground hit the power line and yanked the meter and pole out of the wall. That was at about 7:30AM on Monday, August 29. There's a threaded hub where the pipe attaches to the meter box. It broke. I had to drive 50 miles to Hammond to get one because everyone in Covington/Mandeville was out of them. |
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| The weatherhead on top of the pole also had to be replaced. A scary sight here. The down power line in the front yard. The ground is soaked. The smaller line not attached to the pole is my internet cable. | A squirrel took up residence against our garage door just after the storm. He was injured or exhausted. Patsy put a box up for him to get into and he stayed there a while but he was gone the next morning. Hope it was under his own power but we don't know. |
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| One mailbox survived but not the other. | My brother-in-law brought this generator to us on Wednesday, August 31, but he had to take it back. It was defective. Gasoline containers are in the background. I've seen more gasoline containers than I knew existed. I had 15 of them here at one time, myself, and I am thoroughly sick of the smell of gasoline. Every vehicle in the long lines at the gas pumps in the early days of the aftermath were filling their gasoline containers in addition to their vehicles. It was for the generators. |
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| Argiope spiders took up residence on one of my trails after the hurricane. I had to disturb her to get through. There were two webs within inches of each other. This spider was the bigger of the two. | We lost a few tines on the antenna but regular TV reception is fine. I get my local channels on that antenna. The satellite dish survived unscathed and is somehow still in the correct position. I can't imagine what kind of profile those tines presented to the wind? How much wind could they catch? You would think the satellite dish would have caught a lot more wind. I suppose it's possible that the tines were weakened by the various birds that perch on them or that a bird was trying to hang on during the storm. |
