On Sunday evening, October 29, 2017, tropical storm Philippe wound down and breathed its last over New England.  Philippe’s death rattle rustled Maine, with winds recorded as high as 69 miles per hour at the Portland International Jetport.  Higher wind speeds were recorded at other locations around the region.

Maine Governor Paul LePage issued a state of emergency on Monday, October 30, 2017.  More than half of the state’s population were without power, greater than the number of outages recorded during the epic 1998 “Ice Storm.”

By Tuesday, October 31, 2017, speculation abounded regarding the safety of Halloween festivities.

Here in Lisbon Falls, I was without power for approximately 12 hours.  A piece of siding flew off the roofline’s fascia and a large oak branch fell into my Hosta garden.

My Sunday evening prayer for God’s will and the lone forty-foot pine in my backyard was answered.

I was shocked and stunned to open my bedroom drapes and see more daylight than usual.  Something was missing.  Maine may very well be the “Pine Tree State” and I love it here; nevertheless, I’m much happier to have the state tree in the gully behind my house than splintering my kitchen.

My thoughts on the missing timber can be summed up with a quote from Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul sacristan, Mark Labonte, who once said “we used to have dinosaurs, but we don’t miss them.”

I’m not going to miss that tree, hanging like a reforming wrecking ball over my house.

I didn’t miss the trick or treaters who failed to visit the neighborhood either.  Some local community boosters hosted a Halloween party for the young and young at heart at the MTM Center, a town gathering facility, and it cut into the sugar-addled foot traffic.

I’ve got some surplus candy now.  Not much, but enough to think about.  Not today, though. Today is a day for eating All Saints’ Day Meatloaf, hot from the oven.

How’s that for a segue?