And then on the night of June 29th a surprise derecho storm rolled through Virginia and wreaked total havoc. Fallen trees blacked out power and cell phone service all the way to Front Royal. This scene of Great Falls Street at Virginia Avenue was the backdrop for one of the national TV news broadcasts.
Just a couple of weeks beforehand we had toured the Maple Avenue property with our parents. My mother looked at the mushrooms growing near the roots of the ancient black cherry tree in the backyard - the one with the kid-friendly tree swing hanging out of it - and said something about rotting in the roots, likelihood of falling down and some other mystic incantations. We moved on.
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| Before |
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| Bigger than it looks! |
The derecho took the mushroom-festooned trunk of the tree and split it at the base, several thousand pounds of black cherry tree subsequently landing on the roof of the old house. In an entertaining coincidence, the morning this picture was taken happened to be our 12th wedding anniversary.
Perhaps this should have been a deterrent to considering the purchase of a property in this condition, but it still seemed like a good opportunity, especially given that we were thinking of a major renovation anyway. We pressed on.
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| Rainforest Decor was Big in the 1800s |
