Our younger daughter presented her PhD thesis seminar at UCLA on Thursday and so we went to see it and to spend the weekend in LA. When I left for the airport Wednesday morning, I had to drive through a pretty strong storm but thought nothing of it other than muttering about wadding a completely soaked rain shell into my backpack for seven hours airplanes and airports.
Sunday evening, as we got home, I noticed some cut up wood at the street and remarked to Lisa that I didn't think John had been planning to take down a tree while we were gone. Right after I texted him that we were home and he was off animal feeding duty, he called. He asked if I noticed anything different and I mentioned the wood by the street. He said that was from the tree that came down ON THE NEW OUTDOOR KITCHEN.
I thought I was going to die! While still on the phone, I switched on the light out there and went to see what the outcome was, expecting carnage. Once John stopped laughing, he explained there was nothing more than a rip in the screen and maybe a small dent in the drip edge of the roofing. The tree that came down was a small oak, only about 5 or 6 inches in diameter.
Here's a dramatic shot, looking from the tiny stump back towards the rip, which is a bit hard to see at this angle.
Here's the rip from the outside.
And this is the view from inside.
John still had the contact info for the subcontractor who did the screen work and had arranged for him to come on Saturday to repair the damage. Sadly, he didn't turn up, but it's a small enough repair job that we don't really need him anyway.
Our daughter's seminar went well. She appears to have accomplished quite a bit, and we are of course very proud. There is enough overlap of the work she did with Lisa's research that she ended with "And I'll be happy to take questions from anyone who isn't my mother." We also even went full tourist and attended a live taping of Celebrity Family Feud. That was quite entertaining.
Sunday evening, as we got home, I noticed some cut up wood at the street and remarked to Lisa that I didn't think John had been planning to take down a tree while we were gone. Right after I texted him that we were home and he was off animal feeding duty, he called. He asked if I noticed anything different and I mentioned the wood by the street. He said that was from the tree that came down ON THE NEW OUTDOOR KITCHEN.
I thought I was going to die! While still on the phone, I switched on the light out there and went to see what the outcome was, expecting carnage. Once John stopped laughing, he explained there was nothing more than a rip in the screen and maybe a small dent in the drip edge of the roofing. The tree that came down was a small oak, only about 5 or 6 inches in diameter.
Here's a dramatic shot, looking from the tiny stump back towards the rip, which is a bit hard to see at this angle.
Here's the rip from the outside.
And this is the view from inside.
John still had the contact info for the subcontractor who did the screen work and had arranged for him to come on Saturday to repair the damage. Sadly, he didn't turn up, but it's a small enough repair job that we don't really need him anyway.
Our daughter's seminar went well. She appears to have accomplished quite a bit, and we are of course very proud. There is enough overlap of the work she did with Lisa's research that she ended with "And I'll be happy to take questions from anyone who isn't my mother." We also even went full tourist and attended a live taping of Celebrity Family Feud. That was quite entertaining.
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