What is it about nice people that attract total idiots?Nice people are martyrs. Idiots are evangelists.

SOCK IT TO ME BABY!!!

Monday, June 29, 2015

The strom in the woods

Some shots from two walks- one Saturday night and one Sunday morning- assessing the damage from the storm around here.

Ground Hog Road blocked by two huge Locusts down.

Two sticks driven into the ground




Nope, not crossing there...




All right, Mom, I'm coming!

Laurie saw this from a distance Saturday... it was worse close up.


Ponding water because IPFW thinks all cover should be ripped out to make joggers and socceristas safe from hoods and perverts.


Here I'm going to editorialize yet again.  These poor trees were left when IPFW ripped out all the surrounding cover and destroyed the meadow that HAD been drinking up the rainwater flowing down from the clay-soiled woods.  They replaced the meadow with two terraced soccer pitches, built up with more clay pounded down by dozers and rollers and NO drainage put in.  It has destroyed the hydrology of the entire area, and could have been overcome by anyone with a third grade education who was raised in the country.  Because of this, the area at the foot of the soccer fields get saturated, and with the cover ripped out, these six trees stood no chance.  Anyone tells you Purdue is an intelligent, environmentally concerned outfit, YOU SHOW THEM the next couple of pictures.



Nuff said.


Going into the woods


Blockage #1- this one will take a while to move.  Took a while to go around...
Ahh, here's the other end..

Scrappy, as usual, steps in the water.  Sinks up to his butt, jumps out.











Oddly enough, though the small branches were mostly maple and locust, the individual leaves were nearly all pin oak.

I know it was old, dead, and hollow.  But it stood like a monument.














 I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

-Percy Shelley



This tree was massive... but parked on the top of a ledge...



Just before the bridge





Oddly enough, everything south of the bridge was okay, relatively.  Swamp checks out, too.


Going back up the trail towards home.  All lot of work and planning by IPFW put these trees in a position for this to happen.



8 comments:

  1. Looks like a somewhat dangerous walk, a body would have to be watching their steps wouldn't want to trip, walk into a tree or step in a puddle of mud and you know I would do all three of those things

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    1. Shoot, I do all three of them on a normal walk, so does Scrappy.

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  2. You'd think after thousands of years of building, people would consider things like the importance of a draining system. Here if it rains really heavily, the nearest supermarket's parking lot turns into a lake and will stay that way for days. Because they never bothered to mimic the natural drainage system they bulldozed when they built the parking lot.

    Love all the photos, especially the third one. Really nice shot.

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    Replies
    1. And the joke is, the fields they put in still get sloppy first because the woods STILL sits higher and drains down. Plus there would be a LOT of erosion except they water the grass anytime there hasn't been rain for a few days.

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  3. Wow, even from my seat at the computer screen, those fallen trees are a very scary sight. I'm glad you're fine. Stay safe over there.

    And thanks again, Chris, for your generosity.

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    1. They were worse in the city. Just shooting down the middle of town to KC's game Sunday we saw a bunch.

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  4. Chris:
    Those are some really spectacular photos...more damage than I would have guessed. A shame to loose those trees because of stupidity rather than nature itself.

    And your "editorial;" about changing the topography of the area (and not for the better)...spot on!

    Oak leaves...that's funny you mention them, because we have MORE oak leaves on OUR property than MAPLE ones, thanks to the never-pruned 40+ ft. tall behemoths across the street at the rental there.
    I pray none of THOSE trees snap and decide to fall towards the south...our house and garage happen to be in that path.
    (as well as a stack of lawsuits...lol)

    Whenever I see branches that are not looking as "friendly" as they should be, we call the tree-trimmers, and the fellow on TV last night - Shelton Tree Services - we had them at OUR house a couple years back - great people!

    Anywho, people are rightly concerned about neighborhood damage, and yet, know little to nothing about the WOODLAND damage, which in many cases causes a "domino-effect" to other parts of this city (and perhaps more cities further downstream of the rivers here).

    Excellent picture gallery - should be sent to ALL the media sources with the truth behind why it looks as it does.

    Stay safe and dry up there, brother.

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    Replies
    1. I thought about "friending" IPFW and sending it to them, but I did that a few times when they were building the abomination. They don't care.

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