‘Alleluia, the great storm is over, lift up your wings and fly!’

Manchester Vt.: Taconics after Hurricane Irene 8/29/11

‘Alleluia, the great storm is over, lift up your wings and fly!’  So goes the refrain of Bob Franke’s great folk anthem.  And so say we all here in Vermont’s Northshire.

In the upper regions, we seem to have suffered little.  Some natural pruning and racing brooks, but little more.  But in the valleys, a very different story.  Flooding, houses lost, clean-ups starting.

Walking this morning, the air was clear and summer cool.  A stiff breeze ruffled the leaves beaten 24 hours ago.  The Green Mountains showed a tinge of red, hinting at things to come.

Hard to believe Irene came and went.

Manchester, Vt.: Mt. Equinox after Hurricane Irene 8/29/11