Welcome to the neighborhood

Once the winds began to calm Sunday afternoon, neighbors began venturing outside to inspect the storm’s damage. Our next door neighbor, Karen Roberts, volunteered to watch the boys while I joined the neighborhood cleanup effort. Neighbors gathered first at the Helwigg house across the street next to their huge fallen maple. The family had just purchased the home on Friday and was in the process of moving in this weekend. We used chain saws to cut the limbs, a backhoe to move the trunk and rakes to collect the brush. Our group repeated the cleanup process at seven homes. During this time the boys visited two more homes and played with most of the children on the block. Afterward, we fired up the grills and cooked meats from our freezers before they spoiled. Sleep that night came early without electricity and easy after all that hard work (and play).