Happiness is ...

... A neighbor with a chain saw and a need for a lot of maple wood.

We've survived the big blow better than most. Ron, said neighbor who burns wood through the winter, was over yesterday afternoon, and by the time I got home, the trunk of the toppled Deadfall Maples (Chosen #1 by Fox News as "Great Names for your rock band) had vanished, along with the major branches, leaving me only to gather up the remaining branches and other blowdowns, which took most of the day today. The yard still has a lot of stuff that needs to be gathered up, but it more raking than heavy lifting a this point.

The power and phone are on at the house, and at the place of business as well, which was running yesterday despite the fact we were in Bellevue and had three half-fallen trees leaning against the south wall of the structure. The roads, however, were an absolute zoo, mainly because the traffic lights were out in places, snarling traffic horribly. Even so, we had the traffic lights back up by last night.

Power remains a hit and miss affair. Our neighborhood is fine, but go a mile north and they're out until you get to Renton, which is good, then another spot of darkness through Newcastle and then back on in southern Bellevue, the out for most of Bellevue itself. One of the big concerns for people have been gas stations - those that have had power have been overwhelmed from drivers who normally buy elsewhere. In the meantime there are a lot of trees being sawn up, and downed bows and sawdust are common on the highway.

And anyone who doesn't understand the importance of infrastructure is welcome to visit Seattle. This was just a mild wounding at the hands of nature. It could have been much worse.

More later,