Going Away

I've been in Wheaton a long time; July 4, 1981, to be exact. We moved into the house on Prospect St in December of 1983. The tree at the northwest corner of the house was there when we moved in. I didn't know what kind of tree it was. I knew that it tended to shed branches and was the first to leaf out in the spring and drop leaves in the fall. In 1996, after the leaves fell, we discovered a wasp nest high up in the tree. It was 1 1/2 times the size of a basketball. I climbed up on the roof and knocked it down, ironically, with a basketball.

I never really thought too much about it until last year, when I noticed it didn't leaf out as much as in past years. The City of Wheaton took down a dead ash tree at the southeast corner of the drive way and it occurred to me that tree was the same as the one at the northwest corner of the house. The ash in the parkway was felled by the Emerald Ash Borer, a noxious pest that has savaged our once beautiful trees. My tree never had any leaves on it this year.

I knew it had to come down so I've spent the summer saving. It makes me sad.

It's so tall and majestic. I've been concerned over the summer, as the summer storms roll through with the heavy rain and winds. With it so close to the house and quite dead, what are the chances of losing a branch.

You can see how it forks. The neighbor's drive is 6 feet off the tree to the north. They had concerns about the branches over their property, and rightly so. Eventually, structural integrity fails and this thing called "gravity" takes over. If I don't take it down, I could be paying for a new car or repairs to a house. Ironically, in the last strong wind event, the maple in the parkway lost a branch. This dead tree did not.

So, next Thursday, October 29th, in the afternoon, the whole thing comes down. The company doing it is also going to remove a lot of the trash trees which have grown up around the base, making mowing a bit of an adventure.

Understand that in addition to a sense of loss and sadness associated with the removal, I have a lot of conflicting feelings. The amount of birds in the yard, particularly in the northwest corner have been phenomenal this year. I've seen a huge abundance of chickadees, cardinals, flickers, titmice, robins and sparrows. Bugs love dead wood and birds love bugs. The large amount of what I term "trash trees" on the north and west sides provide excellent cover for birds from predators, although I don't have many of those. I haven't seen any signs of feral cats in my yard and I don't have hawks around either. It's been a lot of fun to sit on the deck and be scolded by an unseen chickadee. Or to look up and see a bird hopping from branch to branch and then have to run get the birding guide because I don't recognize it. All of the above, except for the pine trees and the lilac are going away.

I am having them leave the truck about 3-4 feet tall and leveled. I bought a ground feeder and I'm going to mount that feeder to the trunk. I intend to add seed and the occasional batch of peanuts or other squirrel delights to it. Clearing out the volunteer trees will also allow me room to get at the north window where I can hang a window feeder. It's so overgrown that it's hard to get to that location. I hope the birds and squirrels don't leave. The tree is a hazard, unfortunately, even if it's providing wonderful habitat.

There will be photos. I've made my peace with this. Still, it's like losing an old friend. I need to ask for a slice of the trunk as a memento.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Light Bright

I live in a fairly quiet neighborhood of Wheaton. We're close to the train station into Chicago, but, for the most part, not much happens around here. That's really okay. I'm not sure I would enjoy living 3 blocks west or 2 blocks east, both of which are secondary north-south roads on which there can be a lot of traffic. So, it was with some interest that I received a letter right after Labor Day from our Park District. There was going to be a 5k race to benefit the FT Cares Foundation. Based in Wheaton, the foundation raises money to provide resources to other charities in the area. They called the run "Light the Torch" and you were encouraged to dress up in lighted clothing, carry lights or wear glow sticks, etc. Each runner and walker was given a glow strip they could wear.

The reason I received a letter about this was that the race course was right in front of my house.

I live by the water/first aid station on the right side of the race route. We received another reminder, stuck in our front doors on Tuesday. The race would start at 7 p.m. but the street would be closed at 6:30. We needed to remind people, and ourselves, of this so no one was on the race course. Any cars parked would be towed to side streets.

The barricades were left at the street corners on Thursday.

I've never watched a foot race. I had no idea what to expect. Neighbors had been talking all week about standing in their parkways and cheering, adding lights to the front of their homes since the whole idea of the race was to add additional lights. I noticed, when I got home, that some people north of me had luminaria along their section of the street.

At 6:30, as stated, the barricades on the side streets went up.

Neighbors south of me strung up Christmas lights. I thought, I could have done that, or put something in the front of the house. We knew the race would start at 7 to the west of us. We weren't sure how soon we'd start to see runners after the start. I decided to just sit on the front steps and watch. I had to find the Deep Woods Off to combat the mosquitoes, although I was surprised at how few there were.

At 7:15, a police car came down the street. My little camera doesn't do well in low light situations. There is probably a setting for low light, but I couldn't find it right away. About 2 minutes after the police car passed, the first batch of runners came through. Most of them wore only the event issued light stick and that chartreuse-color shirt. Slowly, however, the colorfully decorated runners started showing up.

There were family groups running and walking.

There were friends and people with dogs or strollers.

You can see that some people really took the "bring your own lights" suggestion to heart.

It was fun to watch the race. I had a mug of tea and enjoyed a wonderfully mild September night. A walker was the last person to come by. She was followed by a police car. Neighbors cheered her as loudly as the first people to come down the street.

The whole event took an hour and 15 minutes. The street was not reopened until 9:00 to allow all racers to clear the course. About 10 minutes after this walker passed my house, a car came down the street. That car was followed, very quickly, by a police car and they were stopped just north of my house. I could hear the officer saying, "Those barricades are there for a reason ma'am." That's the time one goes back into one's house for a refill on the tea.

If this happens next year and they use the same route, I need to put Christmas lights on my arbor. They couldn't have asked for a better night, which won't always occur. This was fun and a nice diversion to the usual life of the block.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast tea

Deb

Scaring the Cats

The annual rite of summer happened last weekend. It was the Prospect Street block party. When Carole was in grade through high school, I helped organize this. For about 5 years, we didn't even have them, preferring to just go to Jill and Zeke's on July 4th for a bbq and pool party. But people with kids are back in the neighborhood now and this is a great way to bond.

The street is closed from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. and we have always, always started with a parade going from north to south along the block. I was cleaning litter boxes when I heard the police siren. Darned if that didn't sound very close, like within a couple of houses from me. The girls took off for their safe places and I ran to the front door.

 

Oblivious to the time, I had no idea it was time for the party. 

I think it's great when the police come to an event like this. The officer parked in the middle of the block and let the kids look inside his patrol car, sit in the back for pictures and ask him anything. The kids asked if he'd ever fired his gun. He hadn't except at the shooting range to keep his skills sharp. Yes, this car was brand new and he really liked it. You want your neighborhood to build up a good rapport with the police so when something goes wrong, there is trust there. The last time we did this, years ago, the police officer, had to leave in the middle of her talk because she was called out. 

I came back to the house and the girls were out of their hiding places but still agitated. If we lived on a major street, I think they would get used to the sound of sirens. But, if I lived on a major street, I probably wouldn't pay attention to sirens and go see what was up. I think I'll put up with cats scattering to the winds so I know what's happening in my neighborhood. 

Beverage:  Lady Gray tea

Deb

Fixed.

I don't know when the signs came down but the street north of me is all fixed. It's a very nice drive although still lacking in sidewalks. As with most road construction projects, it's very nice, now that it's over.

Beverage: China Black tea

Deb

Progress

I came home from work today to see this north of my house. The street has been torn up since early June. All the sewers were replaced. The sidewalk ends in front of that house visible on the left and the street has never, ever had curbs and gutters. On the right side of the road, a block north of me, is the Second Baptist Church and they have always had water problems when it rains more than 3/4ths of an inch over a day. Standing water is ubiquitous by the church.

The road's been torn up since right after Memorial Day. I don't remember reading in the local newspaper about the project but it doesn't really affect me as I go south to get to the office. It has cut down on vehicle traffic, however, which we welcome. This street is a short cut between the train station and Lorraine Road which takes one to Roosevelt Road, a main east west thoroughfare. After the commuter trains disgorge their passengers at night, cars would drive way too fast for the street to avoid traffic.

Then, right before July 4th weekend, there was a construction strike. For 3 weeks, there was no activity. Indeed, they came and got most of the heavy equipment off the job. While it was nice and quiet, it set things back. The strike was settled on the 21st but work didn't really return until Wednesday. It's nice to see them doing some patching but I have no idea when this will be finished.

I'll have to let you know how the street is when it's done.

Beverage: Juice

Deb

I Know Where He Lives

Last Saturday, some of the neighborhood parents organized a large Easter egg "hunt". They used the lawns of three houses across the street and tossed the bright plastic eggs all over. You can see a lot of people turned out. Not all of these people live on my block. These were friends and family of the people who organized the event. It was windy and chilly but there was a lot of laughter.

I kind of miss doing that with a small child.

We used to hide the eggs in the house. As I'm not fond of hard-boiled eggs in the first place so we didn't do the colored eggs much. I'd just have to toss them because we didn't eat them. It is a waste.

When I was growing up, we colored eggs and mom would turn them into deviled eggs after we found them. Dad would take 2 or 3 deviled eggs in his lunch so there was never a worry they would spoil. The other benefit to plastic eggs is if one doesn't get found, you don't smell it in a few weeks. That is the worst. "What's that smell.....oh no."

We did Easter baskets and hid plastic eggs, usually inside because outside was chilly. Plus, the tradition has you finding eggs on Easter morning and we had church so I wasn't hiding eggs in the yard at 5 a.m. because we had to be to church for sunrise service. A cat would sometimes decide the plastic egg was great for chasing around the living room, particularly if the egg contained jelly beans or some small item that made it rattle.

So I watched, with a smile, from my doorway as parents and kids enjoyed streaming over the lawns gathering brightly colored eggs and I remembered Carole's giggles.

For those concerned that the Easter bunny might not make it out and about, I provide proof that he's just fine.

He's resting up.

Beverage: Scottish Blend Tea

Deb