Gloucester, MA. February, 2010

There are so many benefits to living on a cliff, overlooking the “living painting” of the harbor and the sea beyond. And a few drawbacks. Like wind. Unprotected on our precipice, exposed to the occasional hurricane-strength breezes, can sometimes be daunting. So far, nothing fatal. But timing (and placement) are important. We woke up one morning to find that, in addition to the commonplace fallen limbs here and there, an entire tree had been uprooted overnight (shown here under the steadying hands of Dr. Blake.) We called our “tree man,” who was, as you can imagine, rather busy this morning all over town. When he arrived, he sawed off the trunk at ground level, then pushed the dirt and roots back in place. Done. At least the nearby stone wall remained intact. This time.