Hurrican Ike

This is a picture of our neighbor's (from across the street) home. We are currently catching the aftermath of Hurrican Ike. This morning, we had a cold front blowing in from one direction and then this evening, hurricane Ike hit us from the opposite direction. Once the winds shifted, trees and branches started falling down from all over the place. We have a tree in our backyard slightly bigger than the one in the picture that is ready to fall over at any minute. The only thing holding it together is the bolt that my grandpa put through it years ago when it split after being struck by lightning. We've debated cutting it down since half of the tree is dead, but it's very sentimental. You see, in Carey, every year the kindergartners receive a baby tree to take home and plant. It's part of the Tree Foundation (not sure exactly what it's called) here in Carey. Anyways, that tree that we are debating on is the tree that my mom planted when she was young. Now, we find that we are having to cut down a piece of sentimental history in our family. Once the tree across the street fell we realized that for the safety of our kids, it has to come down. Thankfully, the neighbor's grandbabies, puppy and family had just gone back in the house and no one was harmed. The only damage is the beautiful landscaping. It was so scarey watching it fall. We heard the cracking, turned around and watched in utter shock as the whole tree came down. The tree was marked as healthy by the village and looked healthy, but once it fell, you could see straight through the hidden hole within the trunk. The two trees to the left of it are still standing of course, however, have been marked for destruction and look like they need cutting. Anyways, so that was our excitement for the day in small town Carey, Ohio.