Brief Visit to the WV Place

We visited the WV place this past weekend. Mainly because we had to pick up our trailer, which we needed to get the snowblower we bought from one of Hubby’s co-workers. Now we know we won’t get an measurable snow this winter. You know, now that we are prepared for it and all.

It was a nice, if brief, visit. We drove up on Saturday morning. It was somewhat warm and the sky was a really pretty blue.

The dogs had a blast doing what they love to do most. K and Belle were hunting while Meg was off saying hello to all her old pals.

I walked to the back part of our property to check on this downed tree, which has been in this position since 2005 when we moved in.

Ever since I first saw the thing, I wondered how long it would take to break. It’s been seven years. And I have no idea how long it was like that before we bought the place. Late last year, I noticed it starting to sag. Initially, I was just going to let the thing go. But the grandkids, when they visit, always love to climb on it. Come to think of it, it was shortly after snapping this photo in July that I noticed the thing sagging and said, “Everyone off!”

And the dogs walk under it, too. So it worried me.

On Saturday, I actually got a closer look at the thing. I could see visible stress cracks. I gave it a gentle kick and could tell it was really rotten. So I stood on the end close to the ground and bounced a few times.

It didn’t take much at all to make the thing fall. Based on the very loud crack and thud it made when it fell, I’m glad I did what I did. It was obviously very heavy and would have inflicted quite an injury had it fallen on anyone.

Seven years. Wow.

The girls were oblivious. They heard the thud, looked up, then went back to their hunt.

I did manage to capture one very cool (in my opinion) picture of K.

I like how, if you look closely, you can see her eye. Click on the image to see a bigger version if you like. She’s quite determined to catch the mouse or vole or whatever it is that once made the stump its home.

I spent Saturday afternoon making my Appalachian Tours web site work. Finally. It’s been broken for months, since I switched hosting services. By Saturday evening, it was windy and COLD. What a difference a few hours make. We stayed the night then came home on Sunday, stopping to get the snowblower on the way.

Not a hugely exciting weekend. But it was still a nice one.