Stratheden Farm: The Blog

Hurricane Sandy

In the last post, you saw how the farm was squeezed betwixt a hurricane and a strong winter storm. This far inland, hurricane damage is rare although Hugo devastated the area in 1989 (and introduced new weeds, their seeds apparently borne on the winds).

Temperatures plummeted and it was as if the mercury was frozen in place: in almost two full days, the variation was from 32F to 35F. The winds were constant with high gusts; the sound of the winds roaring through the tree tops was akin to standing next to a passing freight train. The house made all sorts of Halloween-appropriate sounds for two nights.Monday the snow began before first light and lasted into evening darkness but due to the warmth of the ground, there was no accumulation.Only a few hundred feet higher in elevation, the ground was covered.

As best Mr. Fuzzy can tell, the damage is limited to downed trees. It can be said with fair certainty that no dead wood remains in the trees. Downed hard wood trees make good fire wood so there is no real loss. Tomorrow may see Mr. Fuzzy waltzing his Husqvarna 440e chain saw about the farm, beginning with this maple right in front of the shop. A shame to lose this tree as it was always one of the first to turn colors in the autumn; a lesson that nothing lasts forever, especially rare beauty.

This day finds a warming trend with today expected to reach 43F and tomorrow 46F. And no gale winds and perhaps a few sun beams.The lack of sun has been nearly total; it has been four days since seeing the solar disk even through the clouds.


Mr. Fuzzy offers his deepest sympathies to readers adversely affected by this mess of a storm  system.