It was a dark and stormy night. It was raining cats and dogs and the thunder and lightning was nearly as bad as it gets on the Highveld. Just as George Bush (chewing with his mouth open) was about to reveal to Tony "Yo" Blair his now famous insight about what to tell the Syrians, we lost the satellite feed for the Monday night BBC News. We switched off the TV and soon after that the house lights started going on and off like a Christmas tree. I had just switched off the home computer when there was a mighty crash and the whole house shook. Judith gave a yell and we went through to her room where she was lying in bed. Looking out from her window all I could see pressing against the window pane was leaves from a tree that was supposed to be about seven metres away.
I got up early in the morning on Tuesday and found that what had happened was a tree with a double trunk on the fence line between us and our neighbours (there is no fence as such) had been blown over such that one trunk was on our house and the other trunk on the neighbour's. Unlike a lot of other trees that came down on Monday night where the trunks actually snapped, in this case the root system gave way first causing it to fall more slowly. It landed on the roof directly above where Judith was lying in bed but the house structures held. I think it is possible that if the trunk had snapped and the tree fallen differently that the house may not have held up so well and Judith could have been injured, or worse. So, we all thank God that all the damage is replaceable.
Meanwhile the tree has been removed, the roofers have come and taken photographs, and I await the next company contracted by the insurers to pay a visit to my home tomorrow. Fortunately the company I work for, GE Healthcare, has made it possible for me to work from home when necessary using high speed Internet access.
Click on the photo images to enlarge.
Faux Pas a la Terry
Did I say "Maureen, the home nurse?"
Please make that "Muriel" :-(
The Editor regrets the error and apologizes profoundly.
