October Storm Part III

"holy $#@!" was the first thing that left my mouth when I finally got into the city. I had finally realized what was wrong with the trees. Every tree was missing at least one major branch. the weight of the snow on the still leaved tree limbs was too much for many of the trees to handle. The worst was Wellington. reduced to a one way lane zigzagging between humongous piles of snow and branches. We made it to my place and decided to stay there for the time being. The time being wound up being 2 days. The University at Buffalo actually closed. THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO NEVER CLOSES! EVER!! The city of Amherst declared a ban on driving until the mess could be cleaned up. When we finally were able to return to campus, they had laid the broken tree limbs perpendicular to the roadway, side by side. The reminded me of those old photographs of mass graves after a genocide, only they were tree branches. The fall-out from the storm was quite miserable. Neighborhoods protested that many of the oldest trees in the area had been marked for removal due to irreparable damage. That was always news, this "84 year old man said his great grandfather planted that tree 150 years ago" or something similar. The argument always being that the residents couldn't see what the arborists saw wrong with the trees. Piles of branches still there a year later. The weathermen predicting it will happen all over again a couple of times the next fall.

One thing is for sure...The trees don't look the same.

Facebook and the Dead

I have had the sad occasion to have two acquaintances on Facebook pass away. And both times I have been witness to a most peculiar phenomenon. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the wall, it is a space in one's profile to which anyone can post if they are a friend. After one dies, the wall becomes saturated with well wishes, RIP's, final admissions and reluctant goodbyes. It becomes, more or less the outlet for friends of the deceased to post their last words to that person. A beautiful flowing collage of epitaphic expressions on a web page.
Some may argue against it's creation, stating that the dead will never know these goodbyes. I do suppose this argument is valid. The person to whom these comments are directed cannot read them. But is the page of which I write really meant for the deceased? I think not. It seems to serve as a therapeutic comfort for the living; a concise virtual funeral; a marvelous tribute to a person who has gone away.
In one case I have found anniversary posts; remembrances of like eloquence are found commonly in newspapers every day.
To conclude these walls have lasted to this day. Anyone who was a friend can observe the walls of Will Mcafoo, and quite recently Heather Weeks. Two friends of mine that are gone and not forgotten in real life, or online. Their profile, and that Facebook funeral remain there for us to visit whenever we would wish to for the rest of our lives.

Feeling sick of myself

Am I one to ignore friends? I do not believe it. How then has one slipped away not so suddenly without me realizing she was sick at all? Granted I haven't seen her for almost three years, but it hurt no less when I received the news. Heather Weeks is dead. No time for well wishing. No chance to recognize her disease for me. Please, if anyone actually reads this pithy blog, remember her in you prayers on our behalf. engage in whatever ritual you would to mourn the passed. But do not be sad. Heather knew where she was going, and she was not afraid to go. I hope that after my life has ended i could go to the same place and greet her there. Thank you, Heather, for your superior dance talents made me look competent. I cannot forget the late nights in the locker room hallways choreographing for jazz class, and I hope to never let them slip from my memory. You are certain now never to be forgotten again though you are beyond our contact...for now.