The story heard round the US

Early on 17-Feb, the Greater Rochester International Airport recorded the highest winds in history for Rochester, NY at 78 MPH. It was also the same moment that the largest tree in my yard, a 60-70 ft pine, planted in 1953, came crashing down to cover the entire front of my 2-story brick home in the city.

The tree crashed and my cat and I were up in a flash. After checking to see if it was a car accident in the busy intersection behind my house, we ventured further to find the cause of the loud noise. What we found was pine tree covering all the front windows at both levels and blocking the front door. After emerging from the garage, I saw what the neighborhood and motorists were looking at - A pine tree covering the entire front of my house - both stories and all the way to the peek of the roof.

Well 5.5 hours later and as many trucks and truckloads of debris, the tree was gone and just a huge mud spot left in my yard. The folks at Michael's Tree Service did a great job and it only took a total of 6 guys and all their equipment to remove and haul off the tree. One neighbor commented that it was a tree worthy of Rockefeller Center at Christmas had it not been on my house.

Two weeks later the only remnant of that once beautiful tree is the limb still embedded in the roof awaiting a nice day to remove it and patch the hole and replace the shingles. The inside work where it came through my niece's bedroom is almost complete. The niece's biggest concern, "Did it mess up the planets on my wall?". My answer, "no they are all still there, differnt wall".