Trees.

We have some truly magnificent white pines. Some of them have been on the land for more than two centuries. They have the massive size that goes with all those years, and they are truly part of the charm of the place. But trees and hurricanes do not mix, and at the height of yesterday's storm our son Gareth heard an almightly crack and felt the ground shake as the tree, seen above, came down. Our daughter Andie had parked opposite the orange cone and had just pulled away minutes earlier. 

The tree fell on power lines and that, in turn, led to the inevitable power outage -- along with 15 seconds of unexpected fame. The downed tree in front of our house brought out the Boston Globe, and while watching the work crews, I was interviewed briefly for a video segment.

Here's the link: http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-leaves-hundreds-downed-trees-its-wake/WWmY0LRZucJhP7PeaqTw9H/story.htmlo  The Metrodesk story has a side bar with the video interview under the heading: "Trees Down in Norwell."

The irony is, we are about to undertake a major project to install a semi-circular driveway and some of the trees were going to come out anyway. In addition to power trucks in the front yard, the contractors just parked, if that is the right word, a giant caterpillar tractor in the side yard.  Our own little version of the Big Dig is about to begin.