RE: jacaranda help.... pics attached


What a fabulous story!  
As everyone in Northern California knows, we had some terrific winds in
January.  In November or December, I remember warning someone on this list
away from Eucalyptus nichollii as not a good tree for a windy corridor; it
has a reputation for throwing and breaking.  In our case, we had a rather
tall one which was leaning more and more precariously with time, and even
with compensatory balancing top growth, I feared it was a matter of time
before it fell.  Since it had two roofs (ours and the next door neighbor's)
and our pool equipment as targets, I knew it fell into the "high risk"
category, and just before Christmas I had an estimate on removal done.  I
was only waiting for the holidays to be over before scheduling.  Then the
storms started.  Every tree company was busy with removing utility-damaging
trees, and I spent two days watching the dreadful winds slap things around
my garden.  Then, midway through the second day, my daughter and I heard
that awful, cracking, booming sound and I ventured out on to the deck to see
in wonder how the 45 foot tall tree had lain itself down quite politely
between mine and my neighbor's houses.  It smashed a temporary tube-and-tarp
shed, and the pool heater , but the upside is that the insurance paid to
replace the 20-year old thing with a new one, and my husband was forced to
re-plumb the pool pump and heater the way he had been meaning to for 10
years!
I am always in awe of such forces of nature and love to see what survives
them and what doesn't.

Karrie Reid
Folsom Foothill Gardener
Zone 9

We just had an extraordinary (and we hope unique) experience yesterday. I
was lying down for an afternoon rest and Tony was at work at the computer.
Suddenly I heard a loud roaring sound followed immediately by a tremendous
crash of breaking glass. I got up and rushed into our living room where Tony
told me a stag had suddenly stuck its head through one of the large panes in
the front window. It had then backed off and fled along the street.

It was such an unlikely event that we could scarcely believe it had
happened. We have lived here over 50 years and never before seen one of
these animals in the immediate neighbourhood, though they are always about
in the more distant hills..Apparently the beast (a fallow deer) had first
appeared in  a garden nearby and the people there had alerted the police,
who had arrived and attempted to move it back into the bush. They were just
herding it down the road when it suddenly swerved into our front garden. We
think when he looked up at the house he saw a dim reflection of his head in
the front window and thinking it was rival (It is the breeding season just
now) it charged at the window, leaping into it from the front lawn. The
result was a terrific surprise for both for the stag and us. It then
extracted itself from the mess. and continued along the road before heading
down towards the river and away from the houses.

It was the most awkward time to have a broken window, being the middle of
sunday afternoon, but we are lucky to have a conscientious glazier in our
valley who when appealed to came right away had the pane replace in under
half an hour. We also have a lovely pair of youngish heighbours who had come
running to the rescue when they heard the crash and who most generously
spent a good half hour helping us clear up all the glass both inside and
out.

Things could have been a whole lot worse than they were. Tony was sitting
well to the side of the window working at the computer and so missed being
in any way damaged even if pretty shocked, and as it happened I had lingered
a bit over my rest or I would have probably been seated on the sofa which is
just below the very window the stag put its head through and I could have
been badly cut (maybe even died of fright!!).

Moira

( Sorry, initially forgot to copy this to the list, M)
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