Earlier this week I made the trek to Birch River, WV to visit my friends Greg and Verena, and to help them get some work done on their farm. I was supposed to be farm sitting for them this week, but after getting hit hard by Sandy, there was no vacation in site for Greg and Verena. Sandy dumped 30 inches of very wet snow on a good portion of West Virginia, snapping off tree tops, uprooting trees, blocking roads, and putting out power and phone lines. G&S were without power and phone for over a week. I've just posted over a hundred pictures that Greg took of the damage to their farm. While he's an amazing photographer, the pictures just can't capture the devastation from the storm. Seeing it in person was like a punch in the stomach. It was overwhelming to look at and see how much work there is to do to get back to normal. With five miles of fencing there is not a single section that wasn't affected. Trees and limbs have knocked the fence over. Greg and Verena have been out everyday slowing digging out, chain sawing, stacking fire wood, and piling brush to be burned later. They secured an area for the sheep, then another for the female goats. The male goats however have been in the barn for two weeks, waiting for enough fence to be repaired to allow them a place outside.
I arrived Monday at noon, and after a short visit over lunch, we headed out with the chainsaws to continue the clearing efforts. For two and a half days Greg and Verena sawed while I "swamped". That's what we call it when we're clearing trails in Shenandoah National Park: there are sawyers and swampers. I am a swamper because I don't use a chainsaw. Swampers clear what the sawyers have cut. Verena, who is 20 years my senior, is amazing with a chainsaw! What a woman!! Not to say less for Greg who is quite a bit faster with the saw than Verena, but still, I don't know any other nearly 70 year (young) women using a chainsaw in any capacity!
Friends, Jim and Martha arrived late Tuesday morning with another chainsaw and worked with us for the rest of the day, then again on Wednesday. It took all five of us with the three chainsaws one full day to clear the quarter mile or so of road between the upper and lower farm. It's clear now, allowing a truck or tractor to get through, but there's still much to do to get it completely cleaned up. Many piles of potential fire wood and brush still remain. There is still much firewood yet to be cut. Now that the road is open the female goats can be taken down to pasture there, and the bucks can be turned out where the does have been the past two weeks near the barn.
The fencing is the main concern, but many other repairs to be done as well. They had one green house structure completely collapse. It had been standing in that spot for over 30 years through all kinds of weather. A glass panel broke from the weight of the snow in the sun room of their house. Farm life is tough anyway; to look at all that needs to be done on top of the regular chores is overwhelming. But Greg and Verena are probably the strongest, healthiest people I know and with their determination and some help from friends and neighbors, they will get through. And, hopefully in the near future, they will get to go on that much deserved vacation, and I will get to farm sit : )
