McHenry County Blog

Morning came and the snow was high.

Snow half covered the dormer windows.

And, there was a beeping noise in the Skinner household.

It was in the basement next to the furnace.

The carbon monoxide detector.

The furnace was off, but why?

Expert in all sorts of things mechanical Marty Walter of Walter Alarm suggested that the pipes to the outside might be covered with snow and he was right.

The 7th graders dug out the exhaust and intake pipes.

NICOR redirected my call to the Lakewood Fire Department and a fire truck appeared.

Wading down the driveway toward the fire truck on Lake Avenue in Lakewood.

I sent my son and a friend down the driveway to show the firemen which house had made the call.

The boys returned with two firemen.

The boys accomplished their mission.

The firemen made sure the pipes were clear of snow.

The sleepover guys had already shoveled out the pipes, but the fireman made sure.

We were just the second call of the day.

Standing at the intersction of Meridian Street and Lake Avenue looking east, the only vehicle was the fire truck and it was parked.

Although the roads were passable, there was no traffic.

Looking west from Meridian Street, Lake Avenue, usually having plenty of commuter traffic after 7 AM, was empty.

The Friday before Labor Day our 80-foot hickory tree blew down in a hard wind. It was fungus-infected, probably weaken when lightning took down the close-by oak.

The week before Thanksgiving, the Village of Lakewood arrived with a twenty-foot replacement.

The Public Works guys were ready to dig the hole for the new tree.

Not a hickory, because their tap roots for a tree that size are too deep to transplant, but an oak.

New grass has been sown where the hickory had been.

A red oak, the crew leader said.

Lakewood is a “Tree City.”

Some municipalities just put up the signs, I imagine.

Transplanting this oak was “walking the walk.”

Three oaks were saved from Commonwealth Edison tree trimming crews on Haligus Road in Lakewood.

It and two others were found under a Commonwealth Edison power line on Haligus Road.

These look like locations where the three oaks were removed.

One was planted at my neighbors before the crew came to our house.

My neighbor's little oak was transplanted first.

The hole was dug. Time to drop the burlap balled and wired roots of the tree into the hole.

After removing one of the lateral hickory roots that was too deep for the stump removing machine, the balled tree roots were ready to drop in the hole.

The next step was straightening the little oak.

The MDC disposal man was almost finished picking up the dozens of leaf bags as the leafless little tree was being planted.

Once the tree trunk was straighted, the hole was filled in and the root ball watered for twenty minutes.

The job was almost finished.

And, next year, there will be more leaves.

The lamp lighting our driveway emerged undamaged.

How strong was the wind this afternoon?

The hickory tree not only blocked the driveway, but it pretty much covered the front yard.

A gust took out our tallest hickory tree. We lost half of the other big one in the late 1980′s to lightning. The big oak on Meridian Street next to the hickory also got hit by lightning and was destroyed.

I’m lying in bed about 3:30 this afternoon listening to the wind and praying for God to protect our trees while falling asleep when there’s a loud cracking sound and I hear tree limbs coming down.

The kids downstairs thought they were hearing the rumbling of thunder.

As people have know for millennia, when God answers prayers it may not be the answer you have requested.

The old hickory tree, weaken by a fungus after having been hit by lightning fell in such a way that there was minor gutter damage.

In this case, when the hickory, diseased by fungus, fell, it missed our master bedroom.

There were branches and leaves touching our bedroom balcony.

In fact, except from leaves on the tops of some limbs, it missed our home completely.

No way we could into or out of the garage and it was the night we planned to have Chinese food from The Breakers.

But it completely blocked the driveway.

We have a light out front.

It pretty much missed that, too. It’s still standing.

But, it and a significant branches on the nearby oak which got taken down with it now completely block the driveway.

Fortunately for us, the tree is on the right-of-way of Meridian Street, so the Village of Lakewood will remove it.

Some guys will get overtime tonight to clear the driveway, but I figure Tuesday is soon enough to clear out the trunk and most of the branches.

So, I am thanking God for protecting our home, if not our tree.

And, I’m a continuing fan of Lakewood’s Public Works Department.

Everything was cleaned up by dinner time except the tree trunk by the efficient Lakewood men. The limbs had gone to Chipperland

By the time the family arrived to eat Chinese, the driveway was clear and they parked where tree limbs had previously been.

You know my color blind eyes like yellow.

I see it with the intensity that normal folks probably see all colors.

Imagine my amazement when I say this yellow violet underneath the big red oak tree in our back yard.

Then, I found two more blossoms near some daffodils next to the helicopter pad (the brick patio where the yellow pansy appeared).

I remembered that I bought a yellow violet plant from a Meridian Street neighbor a couple of years ago, but I can’t remember where I planted it.

Wherever that was, it must have spread much like the other violets in our yard have.

Every time I get a pitch to kill all the broad leaf plants in our year, I think of the violets that would disappear.

We have

purple ones,

white ones,

purple and white ones and, now,

yellow ones.

You know my color blind eyes like yellow.

I see it with the intensity that normal folks probably see all colors.

Imagine my amazement when I say this yellow violet underneath the big red oak tree in our back yard.

Then, I found two more blossoms near some daffodils next to the helicopter pad (the brick patio where the yellow pansy appeared).

I remembered that I bought a yellow violet plant from a Meridian Street neighbor a couple of years ago, but I can’t remember where I planted it.

Wherever that was, it must have spread much like the other violets in our yard have.

Every time I get a pitch to kill all the broad leaf plants in our year, I think of the violets that would disappear.

We have

purple ones,

white ones,

purple and white ones and, now,

yellow ones.

As I was driving out of my driveway about 8:45 yesterday morning, what did appear but a school bus accident.

It apparently was a fender bender, at least for the school bus.

The slight damaged to the bus fender can be seen below.

After school, my fourth grade son said there were classmates late for school, so, maybe kids were sitting on the bus when I took the pictures.

But I didn’t see them.

I did see an ambulance, maybe two, and more Lakewood firemen and policemen than I have ever seen.

That’s the first time I have seen any Lakewood Fire Department vehicles near our home, except for a test run of a fire truck right after the department was founded in January 2007.

The bus driver apparently decided she could not get down Meridian Street on the south side of Lake Avenue.

That’s the part called Gate 12.

There were lawn care truck and trailers blocking too much of the street.

So, the bus driver backed up.

The bus ran into a car.

I saw no sign of the car, but she got a ticket for improper backing.

There were two ambulances before I left for my dental appointment.

The photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

As I was driving out of my driveway about 8:45 yesterday morning, what did appear but a school bus accident.

It apparently was a fender bender, at least for the school bus.

The slight damaged to the bus fender can be seen below.

After school, my fourth grade son said there were classmates late for school, so, maybe kids were sitting on the bus when I took the pictures.

But I didn’t see them.

I did see an ambulance, maybe two, and more Lakewood firemen and policemen than I have ever seen.

That’s the first time I have seen any Lakewood Fire Department vehicles near our home, except for a test run of a fire truck right after the department was founded in January 2007.

The bus driver apparently decided she could not get down Meridian Street on the south side of Lake Avenue.

That’s the part called Gate 12.

There were lawn care truck and trailers blocking too much of the street.

So, the bus driver backed up.

The bus ran into a car.

I saw no sign of the car, but she got a ticket for improper backing.

There were two ambulances before I left for my dental appointment.

The photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

The postal route we live on in Lakewood and Lakewood itself straddles the township line.

Algonquin Township is east of Meridian Street, where we live on the only hill in Country Club Additions, and Grafton Township is to the west.

Because it is so relatively cheap for public officials to mail to everyone on a postal route, we in Algonquin Township get Grafton Township newsletters and my guess is that local Grafton Township residents receive the one from Algonquin Township.

There’s a pleasant picture of John Rossi, the first Republican to be township supervisor. (Before, the supervisors were from no name parties put together just for the township election.)

Rossi makes a pitch for volunteers and thanks the ones who work in the township food pantry, among other voluntary activities.

The newsletter also touts the bus transportation for seniors and mentions an intergovernmental agreement with Algonquin, Nunda and Richmond Townships.

“For example, you can now get a ride to Crystal Lake with a pick up connection at the Lake in the Hills Village Hall.”

I assume that is directed to Huntley and Lake in the Hills residents of Grafton Township.

The postal route we live on in Lakewood and Lakewood itself straddles the township line.

Algonquin Township is east of Meridian Street, where we live on the only hill in Country Club Additions, and Grafton Township is to the west.

Because it is so relatively cheap for public officials to mail to everyone on a postal route, we in Algonquin Township get Grafton Township newsletters and my guess is that local Grafton Township residents receive the one from Algonquin Township.

There’s a pleasant picture of John Rossi, the first Republican to be township supervisor. (Before, the supervisors were from no name parties put together just for the township election.)

Rossi makes a pitch for volunteers and thanks the ones who work in the township food pantry, among other voluntary activities.

The newsletter also touts the bus transportation for seniors and mentions an intergovernmental agreement with Algonquin, Nunda and Richmond Townships.

“For example, you can now get a ride to Crystal Lake with a pick up connection at the Lake in the Hills Village Hall.”

I assume that is directed to Huntley and Lake in the Hills residents of Grafton Township.

Before the snow started Sunday afternoon, I drove south on Meridian Street from Broadway to get home.

Look at the incredible potholes I found in the ice on Gate 12 in Lakewood.

I’m glad the snow removal is better on the north side of Lake Avenue, where we live.