I was inside my house and the wind was howling outside. Usually it’s my dogs howling, but they were inside with me looking out the window too. My large white canopy was being blown sideways by the wind. I could see the canopy was going to end up in my pool. I ran outside to try to push the canopy back down to the ground, but another wind gust and I am almost in the pool. It was a power struggle that I was not going to win. I ran into through the house to the garage, jumped into my car and drove to Walmart. I purchased a dozen metal tent hooks and 50 feet of rope. I drove home and the canopy was almost tipped over. I pinned the 12 metal hooks in the canopy frame. I used the rope to wrap around the old oak tree and tied the rope, so the canopy wasn’t going anywhere unless the oak tree did. I watched trash bins moving on down the street.
Two days later, even with the strongest wind gusts, my canopy is no closer to the pool. Please know my concern wasn’t just the canopy going into the pool, I had a few strings of Christmas lights hanging onto the canopy, still plugged into my electricity and I was scared of witnessing electricity in the water.
Am I the only unprepared neighbor, concerned about these 30 mph winds?