When a Tree Lands on Your House

We had big plans for Father’s Day.

We were going to take in a Durham Bulls’ game.  Have dinner at my husband’s favorite deli.  Maybe walk around Costco a bit – something he loves to do – and basically have a lazy family day.

But then a tree landed on our house.  We weren’t expecting that.

Instead, we were celebrating our anniversary – the one that happened a few weeks ago but for which the plans my husband wanted to make never worked out.  Grandparents were up for a kiddie weekend, though, and so we happily traveled to Durham Saturday for a quiet dinner and a movie.

Ironically, we watched a super-realistic movie about a natural disaster.

After a bit of shopping, we returned home – and when we were a few streets away, we started to see downed branches everywhere.  Somehow I knew that something had happened at home.

Unfortunately, I was right.  We pulled in near midnight to find that a tree had split and landed on the roof.

We tramped around in the dark, tripping over branches, trying to determine what sort of damage the house sustained.  In the end, we decided that since the windows weren’t broken and nothing seemed to be leaking, it was time for bed.  What could we do in the dark at midnight?

But daybreak came, and with it, the need to take action.  The windows remained intact, something that seemed miraculous in light of just how close to our large bay window the branches hit. 

So instead of a baseball game, my husband spent his afternoon outside with the chain saw, working to remove the tree from the roof.  In near 100 degree temperatures.

He wouldn’t let us help, or even be outside, for fear that we’d get hurt, so we watched him through the windows (as much as we could with a tree in front of them). 

So while we listened to the chain saw buzz and watched the branches be dragged away from the house, sad that DH had to work so hard on what was supposed to be his special day, we decided to count our blessings.

Because there were blessings to be found even though a tree landed on our roof:

• Not a single window broke.
• We weren’t home to be scared by the storm and the flying branches – because the house is surrounded by them.
• Although large branches fell all around the hives, the bees remain untouched – and were normally active today.
• Our new gutters are slightly dented, but they’re not pulled away from the roof – and there appears to be no roof damage.
• A big branch fell right where I park my car – but the car was safe, with us, in Durham.
• My husband’s car has not a scratch, even though it was parked between fallen branches and trees.
• Nobody was hurt.
• We enjoyed a date night out before getting the unpleasant there’s-a-tree-on-your-roof news.
• My husband was willing and eager to take care of us by removing as much of the tree as he could, and he protected us from flying branches and the heat.  Even though it was Father’s Day.
• We had a working chain saw to make the tree removal process easier.

So the day didn’t turn out at all like we planned, but it was good, anyway.  We grilled Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps and served them with rice, salad, stir-fried broccoli, Mom’s Baked Corn, and fresh pineapple.  The kids made cards for their dad, and then they watched golf together for the rest of the evening.

So that’s how we handled the day a tree fell on our roof.  What would you do?