Several weeks ago, Seattle was hit with a bomb cyclone which brought gusts of wind over 70 mph. Seattle fared better than many surrounding towns but we had the top ~50′ of a redwood snap off next to our house. Luckily, it fell away from us and managed to avoid all the cars, fences, and other homes near us. It fell directly in the street and caused no private property damage (Seattle City Light was clear to make the distinction when they were repairing the power lines).

Surprisingly, all the lines held strong while supporting this massive chuck of timber. The utility pole was not so lucky. We were without power for two days while they replaced the pole, then reran/replaced the lines. It was an impressive undertaking that involved cutting and removing most of the old pole to place a new one in the same hole, then reattaching the power lines and lashing a small section of the old pole to the new one so they didn’t have to mess with the phone or cable lines on the old pole. At the end, there was a lot of old cabling that they needed to dispose of. I offered to take several pieces in the hopes of turning them into more art for the fence.

The first piece I tried to make with the twisted steel cable was a crab. It did not turn out how I’d hoped. The twists in the cable meant that i couldn’t get smooth bends where I wanted them. City Light also left a few insulators. Dom pointed out that these looked a bit like the top of jellyfish. I thought the twists in the cable might work well for such a sea creature. I’m still not certain I like how it turned out, but I’ve added it to the fence. I even added a small (very simple) fish that the jelly had just caught. It might change but for now, this is what it looks like.

The other addition to the fence was a snail that Avery and I blacksmithed in the garage a few years ago that never found a happy home. Hopefully it is content here as we continue to add random metal to the fence.