Sunday, September 2, 2012

Summer Survivors


We have had quite a summer. We have survived a derecho, sweltering heat and a drought.

This sweet little sunflower survived and grew where a flower shouldn't grow and survive.
It sprouted all by itself between the sidewalk and the 4 x 4. It is a survivor!


A few weeks after the derecho, we had a  viscous lightning storm. The day after, we saw what the ear piercing lightning hit. Our beautiful sycamore tree was struck at the tip top and the force went down the entire tree and out the earth around it.  Since it happened, the tree has deteriorated more and more each day.








Will it survive to live another year? I really don't think so. I will miss it, I've watched it grow from a very small tree to the majestic one it is today.

If you go here, scroll down the page and you will see what our sycamore tree looked like a few winters ago with it's perfect shape. It also might make you feel a little cooler in this hot weather we're having.

Posted by Janet Smart at Writing in the Blackberry Patch.


12 comments:

  1. So sad to read of the lightning strike on the pretty, pretty tree. I'm with you and don't think it can survive. What a pity. I have never heard of a 'derecho' so could you tell me what it is. I imagine that it is some type of weather thing. xo

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  2. Hi Lydia. We had never heard of a 'derecho' before either. But we all know what it is now. It is what they call a straight line storm with very ferocious winds and they say it only happens about once in every ten years. It covered a very large area and a lot of people were without electricity for 2 weeks in our area. The entire east coast had long power outages from all the fallen trees and fallen power lines. I hope to never experience another one.

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  3. That's sad to see it like that and the way it was before.. Derachios are bad indeed.. We are very dry now too.. I'll be glad when Fall gets here to stay..

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  4. Sorry to hear about your tree. A tree is no small loss to a place (no pun intended).

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  5. I'm amazed at how quickly your tree went downhill. What a loss. Yes, like you I'm sure it's gone. I've seen trees hit by lightening but it usually takes awhile to see the damage.
    We're too dry here and need more rain.
    We had a few showers yesterday but not enough to help.
    I'm ready for fall and hope it's a beautiful one. We'll see what the drought did to the leaves.
    Take care. Enjoyed reading about this.
    Barb

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  6. It's so sad about your tree! I've never seen anything quite like that.

    The sunflower, though, just shouts out the word, "HOPE", don't you think?

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  7. We had to take down two trees, but replaced them with two saplings. I sure miss the mature trees, though. Summer took its toll on our bushes too.

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  8. Sorry to see the damage to your Sycamore. I suspect it's gone. It's a shame for it was a lovely tree. You're fortunate that the sunflower survived and thrived. It must have had some shelter from the wind.

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  9. I'm sorry about the tree, too! It takes so long to grow, then it's gone so fast. I hope you can replace it with something just as beautiful.

    This is the first year I've heard of derechos and I thought I knew weather... not so, I guess.

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  10. So sorry about your sycamore tree -- they are so lovely with their large patches of white. Also, their history goes back to ancient times. -- barbara

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  11. I think I was around 10 at the time when I was looking out of our picture window as a lightning bolt struck the base of a cedar tree across the road and I landed on the other side of the room. Since the cedar was at least 100 feet away, it was probably just reflexes that sent me flying, but the concussive noise was awfully loud.

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  12. Oh my, Jerry. I bet that was scary.

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