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Yay! Starting tomorrow we start gaining sunlight minutes on both ends of the spectrum.

Interesting lesson I learned a couple of weeks ago. Although daylight minutes continue to decline up until today, starting around 12/13, we started adding a minute of daylight in the afternoon. I'd always thought that both sunrise and sunset didn't add daylight minutes until the solstice. But yea, we've added three minutes of sunlight at the end of the day since 12/13.

We had a whopper of a storm on Monday. There's an observatory about ten miles from where we live that registered a 90-mile an hour wind gust! We were at our house under renovation Monday morning and saw a HUGE pine tree at the fence line in our backyard neighbor's yard fall over. It took out the fence, but it was a fence we'd already been in discussion with the neighbor about to split the cost of replacing this spring/summer. H is having lunch with him tomorrow; he's a really nice guy. In MA, there's a really strange law that, if a tree in someone else's yard falls in your yard, it's your responsibility to remove it. So I guess we'll see if we want to make an insurance claim. The neighbor has already started to cut it up with his chain saw.

Monday as I was driving around, I hit so many detours due to trees or power lines being down. Our daughter (who lives in what will be the same neighborhood as us when we move next month) lost power Monday morning (the whole neighborhood lost power) and it didn't come back on until 1AM yesterday, so she and our grandson (and their dog) stayed with us in our apt Monday and Tuesday nights. She had throw out everything in their refrigerator. If this storm had come a month later, we would have been fine. We will have a backup generator powered by propane tanks, so we would have been fine.

Oh, well, next major storm!

In MA, there's a really strange law that, if a tree in someone else's yard falls in your yard, it's your responsibility to remove it. So I guess we'll see if we want to make an insurance claim. The neighbor has already started to cut it up with his chain saw.

Insurance agent here. That's pretty standard. Unless the neighbor knew that the tree was rotten and in danger of falling, they're not liable for the damage or removal. It would be neighborly for them to help you, but they're not required to. Sounds like you have a good relationship with him, though, so I bet he will!

I always advise my customers to make sure that they'll get something out of it before they file a claim. Fences are typically insured on an actual cash value basis (replacement cost less depreciation.) Since it was old, you likely won't get much from your insurance company for it, especially since you'd have to pay the deductible first. It's possible - rare, but possible - that you have replacement cost coverage on your fence, though. And you might have limited coverage for removing the tree. I recommend that you call your agent and inquire about what kind of coverage you have. Don't call the insurance company directly unless you're ready to file. Even inquiring can cause them to open a claim, and if you're not going to get paid on it, you don't want a claim on your record.

This is a wonderful day.
I truly am effected by lack of sunshine and daylight. So this is always a happy day for me.

Come on springtime!

So happy we are on the upswing!!

Unless the neighbor knew that the tree was rotten and in danger of falling, they're not liable for the damage or removal.

He did make a comment to H that he knew squirrels (?) had burrowed out part of the tree, making it susceptible. I wonder how this will all play out tomorrow. But again, these are new neighbors and we don't want to get off on the wrong foot.

Like Tushnurse, I crave the sun and always dread the early darkness of winter.

I look forward to Spring every year.

I also am rejoicing the longer days, but I am counting down the days to March 10 when daylight saving time starts again. I live for the sunshine! 🌞