The End Is Almost Here
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The Joy Of The Lovely Of It All ~ Part XI - The Aftermath- More Up Close Looks At The Difficulties of Snow
One of the joys of large snow storms, is that they tend to be very persistent. Not UN-like some authors we know on Steemit. And this being said, I shall now plow ever-forth in discussion with more latent aspects of our monumental, SnOwregon 2019, extrava-snowa-ganza.
Yes, summer is almost upon us, or at least officially a month or so away. But there is still MORE to discuss about deep snows, before the sweltering heat of the season settles down upon us. After all, once it DOES drop like a woolen, 40-point Hudson Bay blanket, people will no doubt be crying out to yon Internet screen, "Give us some more SNOW. PULL-EEEZE! We NEEEEEED it." All extraordinarily unnecessary, hindsight drama aside, I'm going to give you a few more looks into the downside of a large, snowy event. Mainly because I still can ( :
So, once more, WITH further ado:
The Aftermath of SnOwregon 2019: Of Downed Sticks, Flattened Bushes AND Buildings, And Some More Train Difficulties ##
Enjoy away...
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Previous SnOwregon PAIN and PLEASURE Posts:
The Aftermath Part II: Smaller Scale Difficulties The Aftermath: Highway Freefall TreeFall Madness Puffy NightSnows Industrial Magic and Light ~ Part II Industrial Magic and Light ~ Part I Goin Out The Country ~ Part II Goin Out The Country ~ Part I Drive n' Around The NightSnows ~ Part II Drive n' Around The NightSnows ~ Part I Whispy NightSnows SnOwregon 2019 THE PAIN-Post II SnOwregon 2019 THE PAIN-Post I
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For Every Action There Is An Equal and Opposite RE-Action-Revisited Close Up
"Missed It, By THAT Much "
The heavy snow pulled down branches all over town. Though calling this a 'branch' is a bit of a misnomer. I'd call it about 1/3 of the tree! Luckily it missed the front porch. I think this one came down a bit after our first snows. The water weight added to the damage after the snowfall. It was cleaned up pretty quickly.
I guess if you live in a pretty large house, you can afford to pay someone to come remove it. Other's weren't so lucky. There are STILL branches in some yards, months after the storm. It's expensive paying someone to come cut up and haul away the mess. I should know, I'm still cleaning up some of mine. The good old one person, DIY chainsaw, ax and bow saw crew in action. Makes one feel rather studly, in a much smaller, stick-person, Paul Bunyan-esque sort of way.
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Way Beyond My Little Stihl 038
A rather large Douglas fir that fell during the snows. This is a local park, a ways down the highway from home. I wonder how long they will leave it? Downed trees ARE an important part of the natural forest ecosystem, but I'm betting they'll cut this up. Some day. Like the highway we discussed in previous posts...it takes a long time to get to every problem area.
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Take A Little Off The Top, Please
These freight cars had just come down from the mountains. Like those in the background. The railroad was a MESS up through the passes, particularly in the full teeth of the storm. We talked earlier about Amtrak getting stuck with all the people on board, and how they got to spend a few quiet days in the snowy woods on the train. Going nowhere fast. Was probably quite fun, for awhile. Or at least till the food ran out and toilet tanks all filled up. Then it would be time to come home. #####
This freight train sheared off a bunch of snow-heavy, low hanging branches as it rumbled through the forest. They're even stuck down below in the couplers and such. I guess not much except a FULL-sized tree stops a train. There were branches all over the boxcars and lumber flatcars both during and after the storm. Snow is hard on the trees, and then hard on the trains that pass through, after it's done.
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Whataracket
I wonder if any branches poked through the tops of the cars? I wouldn't be at all surprised. I once discovered a HUGE, 200 foot tall, 5 foot in diameter Douglas fir tree that recently slid a LONG way down a steep mountain to the road below. Punched a hole THROUGH the thick gravel road, then into and through the top of a 6 foot diameter steel culvert. Impressive forces. I'm sure some of these rail cars had tree branches sticking through the rooftop from within, like a bad haircut.
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Cousin What's-It's Got NOTHING On The Stickpile Monster
Biking past the local, vacant utility company lot, I was initially spooked by this creepy, HUGE apparition in the waning light. First DD thought? "What in the blue blazes is THAT thing?!!
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A Day Or So Later...
Oh, it's a monstrosity of a stick pile. I'm guessing all the downed branches and trees of our fair city were dumped here. Day after day after day. That's a LOT of branches. I suppose the cleanup crews have to put them SOMEWHERE. Not sure what they were going to do with them after this. But it would sure make a stupendous bonfire for roasting some tasty S'mores. If one were so inclined. Though you'd need a LONG roasting stick. It would be a rather large fire.
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Schteinn School of the Sophisticated Sciences (S.S.S.S.)
Scientific Pile-Size Comparison Study
Exhibit A
The Deep Science Of A Pile - Photo No. 1 ###
March 22, 2019 @ 2:56 P.M.
Notice the small stick protruding from our pile at arrow right, and the general height of our pile on March 22. This is a BIG pile of sticks. Surely it cannot get much larger?
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Exhibit B
The Deep Science Of A Pile - Photo No. 2
March 27, 2019 @ 6:44 P.M.
The same pile, much LARGER, five days later. A whole lot more stuff has been added to our original stack of sticks. The protruding branch at photo right (arrow), is the same as in Photo Exhibit A above [↑]. They added 20 or more feet of greenery to the pile. Not something you see every day.
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And Just Like That...
...It's Gone
But not forgotten. April 25, 2019 @ 8:08 P.M. One day I rode by, and our pile had mysteriously disappeared. Where the heck did they put all of this? I have no idea. This seemed like a good place to chip or burn it. How many trucks or train cars did it take to haul it all away? Where DID they take it? Food for thought, and possible future scientific sleuthing. #####
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What About The Little Trees?
Dr. Seuss Would Be Proud
As for the smaller trees of our fair city...they got hammered pretty good too. This one growing in the park is splayed out like a sad fish fillet. I think it'll take a long time for them to recover. If they ever do. These damaged trees are all over the place in town.
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An Arborvitae Only A Mother Could Love
##### Another tree that got heavily splanched (split-branched -dds). These ornamental shrubbery seem to take it the hardest. Followed by the wispy Birch trees. Deep, heavy snow is thoroughly enjoyed by we photographic humans, but no doubt disdained by the smaller trees and shrubs. Much like some cats we know. #####
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Back To The Country
The older buildings out in the farmland seem to be hit the hardest by the snows. At least when compared to our city buildings. As my dad used to say: "that barn is old as the hills, and TWICE as dusty". It looks to be slowly disintegrating over time, but I think a few more parts fell off or down during this storm. Not sure, could have happened before, but I'm voting on the recent snow doing all this newer damage.
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On Down The Road Apiece
Yikes!!!
This poor farm building REALLY took it in the shorts. The whole thing is gone. Well, it's still THERE. But gone from usefulness. Amazing. Not sure you could have done much all-night snow removal to prevent this. Then again, maybe you could. Would have been a TON of hard work though. Maybe I SHOULD be teaching those Late Night Snow Removal 101 classes at the Community College! #####
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Blackberry Crrrrrruush!
"Well Hello, Wilbur" (Crooned in a wavering horse voice)
Thanks to our deep snow smashing things down to the ground, I got to see areas of the city I've never seen before. This view along the highway has always been blanketed by huge blackberry bushes. But they were smooshed flat by the heavy, snowy blanket. Who knew? There's been horses right on the other side of these bushes all along! What else have I been missing around town?
The blackberries are now growing back. Fast. So I won't see my new horse friends, or other expanding urban views for much longer. Or at least until SnOwregon 2020 or beyond returns. Seeing these horses for the first time: proof positive once more, there are many silver linings to the dark clouds of winter weather.
Well, that about wraps up another segment of this riveting look at our recent snowstorm.
Stay tuned for more SnOwregon 2019- The Lighter Side Of The NightSnows. Coming soon to a post near you.
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~ Finto ~ (Temporaritudinale')
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Thanks for stopping in and viewing SnOwregon 2019: The AFTERMATH - Part III. If you have any thoughts about snowstorms and train travel, large mountains of sticks and other storm detritus, collapsed buildings and bushes, discovering new horse friends, or anything else this post reminds you of, please feel free to comment away in the spaces below. I'd love to hear from you. ####
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Please UPVOTE, COMMENT and FOLLOW if you enjoy my works.
And go to @ddschteinn -- There's a whole lot more...
Posted: 05/22/2019 @ 09:28
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Excerpts From Late-Night Conversations With A Mechanical Cat
Fact Number 145 ###
More Stinky the Cat Classics from Catfacts of Yesteryear ####
