Windy

While Massachusetts was having an earthquake, Seattle was having a windstorm. The colors had started to turn and the leaves were looking sharp so it should come as no surprise that we were treated to a vigorous storm. We had rare lightning and thunder, drenching rains interrupted by periods of clear skies, and winds near 50 mph. Combined, they stripped the developing color from the trees, leaving the ground coated with the result. This poor Japanese maple, sheltered in our back yard, was pounded with everything else. The downed leaves from the upper half of the tree carpet the deck while the lower leaves cling to the tree.