All in all, we were very lucky here. A few trees came down, a bunch of big limbs, and a million-gazillion twigs but nothing extra-precious was lost. There was no damage to any building or structure and even the gardens came through just fine. Plants were a little tumbled but totally OK. As a matter of fact, the Rock Garden, which we were so worried about, looks untouched. It was never under water and must have been protected from the wind too. And the vegetable garden was still in such good shape, aside from a few toppled tomatoes, that thanks to the Tuesday volunteers, we donated 135 lbs. of produce to the East Bay Food Pantry yesterday! (The tomatoes that Gail, Dick and Tree picked before the storm also made up a good chunk of that total.) We did lose power but only for a couple of days and the greenhouse generator hummed right through. We were very lucky.

Mid-day Wednesday and the chipper is finally quiet. First thing Monday morning a pair of extra-strong junior super heroes named Luke and Adam, their parents (one of whom is Blithewold’s executive director), our closest neighbors from the north cottage, and Gail and I started piling downed branches and twigs; and Fred and Dan have worked all along, well into the evenings chipping those branches, felling dangerous hangers, sawing up logs, blowing leaves, mowing, and making sure the property is safe and tidy again for visitors. We’re finally open again today. We are so lucky. I hope you are too.

(Click on pictures for a better view.)