McKinley Drive Update

Even after McKinley Drive had been cleaned up by the clean up crews there was (and still is) a lot of work to do.  The burned trees and brush needed to be cut down and burned or hauled away, and the whole lot needed to be mowed.  Thankfully we had lots of help!  On Saturday our Ward had a work party at our place where so many people helped with the mowing, cutting and piling.

As always things didn't go quite as planned, the burned Oleander bushes were much harder to clear than we thought, the chainsaws were all having mechanical issues so the trees didn't get cut down.  Despite the setbacks they got a lot of work done!  The kids and I were at Ally's T-Ball game so we missed the work (it was better not to have the kids there though).

We stopped by after the game and I was impressed by all the work they had done.  Papa and Daddy had started burning all the burn piles.

Here you can see how nice it looked after the burned oleanders were cut down.  I was surprised how much better everything looked with them gone.  I am excited that the oleanders (and a few maples!) are already growing back.  Cutting out the dead will help them grown and it just looks so much nicer.

The kids were more than happy to snack on the leftover muffins and fruit from the work party.

Today my dad and Steve were finally able to keep a chainsaw working to cut down the last of the burned trees.  Today was the last day to burn for the year so we were glad to be able to burn all the brush from those trees.  Slowly but surely we are getting things cleaned up so the property will be ready for building (someday...hopefully soon).

We brought Steve some dinner and the kids had fun running around and playing.  Steve took the kids home to get ready for bed while I got to stay watching the last of the burn pile.  I love coming back to McKinley Drive whenever I can, it is still home.  It is quite and peaceful there, and it just makes my soul happy to be there.  I can't wait until we are living there again.

The wild sweet peas are just starting to bloom.  I had given strict instructions (that my mom helped enforce) to not mow the sweet peas.  Steve and I negotiate what to mow and what to leave so it can flower and re-seed every year.  

Walking through the orchard I was amazed to already see apples growing.   The trees that survived are back to producing as usual, as if oblivious the the destruction around them.  

While the hills still hold stark reminders of the fire and its devastation, the green of the grass and oak trees show how the healing has begun.