failed rescue

it started snowing again last night. it was heavy enough for there to be about 10 cms out there after a couple of hours. which looked nice, but was totally killing the whole 'spring look' the garden had ben going for. then, in the middle of the night, i heard my father go downstairs. i didn't know why, but found out this morning: several tree branches were breaking under the weight of the wet snow. when i made it out, fairly early for a sunday, a huge oak branch was lying on the snow covered ground, another magnolia branch had given up fighting against gravity (typical, we'd just managed to save the one that broke in january...), and various other trees and bushes were feeling the strain. so, what dad had been doing, for an hour at about 2am, was trying to save the branches. it's huge work, and we were at it for another hour this morning, using various long garden implements to try to get the snow off. fairly easy with bamboo, not so with normal trees... just as we'd given up and come back inside, the highest birch branch gave way and, with horrible creaking, fell the 10m that separated if from the ground.

the weather forecast promises higher temperatures (it's not actually cold), and less precipitation, so i have hopes of making it to work tomorrow. and getting the dog to the vet. and attending my first Japanese lesson...