It’s early evening, and the heavens open up. The rain is coming down so hard and so dense that I can’t see anything out the window.

When I hear a cracking-like sound, I open my front door and see the tree in front of my neighbor’s house down.

My new car was parked behind the Mini; it’s undamaged and I move it. In the pouring rain, with a tree down and electrical wires low enough to touch, I maneuver the car, climb it onto the sidewalk, all in an effort to get it away from the massive down tree.

The linden was no longer healthy. It’s canopy was sparse, but I certainly didn’t think it would come down in a Biblical caliber rain storm.

The cable wires are keeping it from falling onto the street and crashing the red truck. The Mini is not as lucky – its rear window is shattered and its suspension is probably gone.

The fire department determined that the wires were not broken or live and just put up yellow tape to close off the street.

Monday morning, some time around 2:00am, the electric utility came and removed the low-hanging wires cutting off electricity to my neighbor house.

Tuesday evening, around 9:00pm, a tree company showed up with a cherry-picker and after a thorough assessment began to cut the tree apart.

My neighbors and I sat on out stoops drinking wine and beer and watched as they dismantled the fallen tree. It took the crew, working in the dark, 3 hours.