On Saturday, June 26, 2010, a severe thunder and lightning storm hit our backyard and cut off the top half of one of our beautiful 40' maple trees. The wind and rain was so strong at one point the visibility was only about 10'.
I hear some people say they don't like the weather here in Tennessee. We have a saying, "If you don't like the weather, stick around for a few minutes (or hours)." It can change quite dramatically very quickly. Saturday was no exception.
It started out as a 'beautiful weather' morning. Then it began raining, which is common here, so I didn't pay much attention to it. But it just kept growing in intensity.
Then, as I was sitting at my kitchen table reading, I saw a very interesting lightning strike pattern hit our backyard accompanied by a super loud thunder crack. The thunder crack wasn't delayed by any number of seconds – it was immediate. So I knew it was disturbingly close.
After it subsided a bit, I noticed some smoke lingering on the ground in the front yard. Something smelled like it was burning. I thought, "Did our house just get hit? Was the house on fire?"
I did a 'walk-around' and the house was ok, but a tree had been hit. A large (trunk-like) branch was sitting in our neighbor's yard (on top of their satellite dish) and two other large branches were still hanging by threads from the tree. The lightning had literally cut off the top half of the tree.
Just what I needed: more stuff to do! That's why we teach to only schedule no more than 60% of your day so you can be flexible when "stuff happens."
Now I was faced with the decision of delegating this task or using it as an opportunity to finally meet our new neighbors and develop new friendships. I opted for the latter.
When I saw the neighbors in the backyard assessing the damage, I decided to introduce myself. They needed help getting rid of their new lawn decoration and I needed help cutting up the branches still hanging by a thread on the tree.
Our trash pickup service picks up yard waste for no extra charge, so I offered to help them get rid of it.
My new 'best friends' and neighbors, Chris and Kelly, have a chainsaw, which is great because I needed one. He cut up the large limbs with the chainsaw. Kelly and I moved the leafy stuff into my yard to be picked up by the trash haulers.
Teamwork! Working together, we developed new friendships and solved our collective problems at the same time.
Dedicated to your Success and Happiness,
David Humes
Time Management and Happiness Expert
www.DavidSpeaks.com
Curious where the term 'Grasshopper' came from? Click here.
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