This is apparently "extreme weather season" in the southeast. First came last week's tornado watch. Then yesterday we had 40 mph winds that rattled my storm windows so loudly I worried they'd come crashing in on my head as I tried to nap. Sleep was futile.
When it blows that hard, dead - and even some not-so-dead - branches get stripped from the trees on my street and whip around in the air. A friend of mine had to buy a chainsaw yesterday because the entire top of a tree next to his house came off during the storm and is now filling his front yard. Branches of all sizes land in my yard and on my porch, but have yet to damage me or my car. I count myself lucky.
About 2 miles from my house, this woman was not so lucky.
The funny thing is that it was the trees in Charlotte - these stately old shade trees along every street - that sold me on the place. Trees don't grow so plentifully where I'm from. So I didn't realize they were dangerous weapons.
They're not so lovely anymore. In fact, I'm becoming paranoid. Hitchcock never made a film about killer trees, but I can't seem to stop this ominous soundtrack from running in my mind as I jog along my street scanning for dead branches preparing to fall on my head. Do you think it would be too much to wear my bike helmet when I go out for walk?
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