Welcome to Jurassic Park!

It's hard to capture in a single photo all the mayhem of our front yard. In addition to the big piles of dirt, we have massive tree roots -- the remains of six behemoths -- strewn about. Wires, cords and small trenches make this treacherous. But of course, the machinery makes it more fun than a playground. Our grandchildren C.J.and Ellie are happily dwarfed by the big shovel, above.

The Norwell Board of Selectmen postponed Halloween because of the hurricane -- at one point 80% of the town was without power. We had our Halloween on Saturday and despite, or perhaps because of all the upheaval, we had just as many treat-or-treaters as ever. One of Gwyneth's friends took an appreciative look at all the destruction, and said, "it looks like you've got Jurassic Park here."

All in all, we managed to create a yard scene for Halloween far scarier than anything as conventional as skeletons or witches. And indeed, we are a big attraction. Although I am away at work all day, I hear that the neighbors set out lawn chairs and cold drinks cases for their front row seats at the proceedings. So I guess we can be proud of our big mess.

Once again we are racing the weather. A Nor'easter comes in on Wednesday, so Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be big progress days. The idea is to truck in masonry and truck out all the lumber in a tactical tour de force.

I"ll keep you posted.