Trees Uprooted, Homes Destroyed & Lovely Weather

July has taken a lovely turn here in the mid-Atlantic with a cold front settling across South Carolina allowing cool (for July), dry air to spill all the way from Canada into the Old Dominion. 2 days so far with a couple more on the agenda before the normal July muggy's return into next week.  The nice weather has made the mayhem that has descended on the tirehouse surrounding forest much more pleasant for the human perpetrators causing the wholesale slaughter and destruction but has likely caused next to no concern for the forest creatures who's homes have been damaged, displaced, ruined or destroyed. Those neighboring flora and fauna alike were likely enjoying the pleasant change in the atmosphere but then the trees started crashing down and weather was only a minor concern.
What started as firewood gathering last summer, and the followup stump removal, has blossomed ( a tragic word choice considering the trees killed) into a full-on clearing and cleansing with giant fires looming off in the future to convert the carbon, currently out of the atmosphere, back into the gaseous mass as the dreaded carbon dioxide. I will count on the remaining 29+ acres to remove that carbon and turn it back into wood. But, for now, my desert house, anchored (it's an earthSHIP) here in the rain forest needs more light from our star, so some trees had to go.  And, go they did.
A tree falling is a violent, earth trembling thing; a reminder that a life has been taken. I heard it lots today, most of the victims my age, many, exactly my age. 60 years spent using water, soil and solar energy and creating a huge living being. While I, ingesting various food stuffs for that same span, all originally starting as plant matter and now turned into the trillions of animal cells of my existent, decided to better my life and that some of those plants had to go.  It was not a decision I made lightly, I've spent a lot of time with those trees and will miss them. But, the overriding theme of this blog is CHANGE. And, it sure happened today, here on this part of earth. Big changes, BIG!!
Hope your day was full of positive change (or if it seemed negative, figure out a way to turn it positive and get on with things).
In a note that should get higher billing and have been it's own headline yesterday: My mother, Ophelia Ann Smith Holladay, finished her 93rd trip around the sun yesterday. A momentous occasion that few folks will ever see. Let's get together and do it again next year, Mom!! It just wonderful that I was able to be able to take her out on the big world and that's she's happy, and healthy and wise!! Love ya, Mom, hope you have a few more revolutions in you!! I hope you all get to 93! But, for now get out and enjoy another rotation, here on the spinning, orbiting globe, Today on Earth.
Mom's orchid

 Ann at 93

 Trees coming down (above) and a lot more space visible behind the tirehouse (below).