The Broken Branch

By Gunnar Alutalu

A branch on a wire fell down, ---
The wire that powers the town.
That branch from a tree
Indeed did break free
And started this story renown.

This story, I feel, I must tell
While still I remember it well.
It was all in the papers,
The tricks and the capers.
In turbulent times did folks dwell…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365214707

Book preview

The Broken Branch

THE BROKEN BRANCH

By

Gunnar Alutalu

About the Author

Gunnar Alutalu was born in 1933 in the small Baltic country of Estonia. Having become a refugee during the Second World War, he experienced first-hand the insecurities and deprivations that wartime conditions bring.

Nevertheless, he also had many agreeable and happy experiences and had the opportunity to travel, learn new languages and come to a greater appreciation of other cultures.

He landed as an immigrant to Canada in 1949.

He studied welding engineering and worked in this field.

He lives in Quebec City. 

Dedicated to all who have experienced power outages

CONTENTS

The Heat Wave                 

The Difficult Case of the Dill Seed    

The Commission of Inquiry                 

Number 313

A Landmark Decision                            

The New Buffy-Ball                             

Aadesh and Summer

INTRODUCTION

A branch on a wire fell down, ---

The wire that powers the town.

That branch from a tree

Indeed did break free

And started this story renown.

This story, I feel, I must tell

While still I remember it well.

It was all in the papers,

The tricks and the capers.

In turbulent times did folks dwell…

THE HEAT-WAVE

Someone threw ice water on my sweaty bare back. Right through the wide-open window. The one who did it is gone now, but the curtains are still moving.

I know, of course who it was. It was Boreas. This is what the Greeks called the god of the North wind. Actually, I appreciated this blast of cool air. It was welcome relief from the heat wave.

Wide-awake now at five o’clock in the morning, I calculate the number of hours I have slept. Four. That is a pretty good rest for anyone to have in this unusual and continuing heat wave. Apparently records are being broken. They say that the last time this town experienced such heat was when Hannibal crossed the Alps.

I direct an accusing glance at Freeze-Breeze, the goddess of air conditioning despite knowing full well that it is of no use to push any of her buttons. She will not respond. She will not do any work unless she is constantly fed. She eats electricity and she has not been fed for three days now.

They say that a tree fell on the power line and cut off the electricity, her food.

A tree? It takes over three days to remove a tree-branch from a wire? Maybe it was more than one tree; maybe it was a forest…

I know that it is not such a simple matter, this business of removing a tree branch from a wire. Procedures have to be followed. Rituals have to be observed. Priorities have to be established. A full committee of professional, highly educated and overpaid specialists in white helmets and reddish-orange vests must gather to look at the offending tree and come to an agreement that a branch from that particular species or sub-species of tree, has to all appearances fallen on a metal wire.

That fact having been accepted by the majority