OTTUMWA — Magic happened Thursday in broad daylight on the parking in front of my house.

At midday I went home for lunch and saw “Tree Limb Mountain” was gone. The pile of branches had been a blind spot on the property since December.

This good “magic” was the success of Ottumwa’s leaders in obtaining funds from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) for cleaning up the debris from winter ice storms.

The magic has eased my tense memories of the “rifle shots” — the sound of tree branches cracking — and my fears of the trees around the house all coming down.

From the federal officials to the city crews collecting the debris, my heartfelt thanks goes to each and every person who made that mountain disappear.

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Is there a down side to kinder weather? Unfortunately, yes. It’s called burglary. As soon as thieves can walk around at night and not be cold, then they start to hunt for things to steal and sell.

Burglaries can happen any time, anywhere. I’m here to testify. About 10 days ago, someone attempted to break in one evening while I was home.

I was at my kitchen table when I heard an odd noise. I turned around to see if the cat was in the bathroom window, which was about a dozen steps away.

I wasn’t sure what the noise was but what I saw was the storm window falling outward from the bathroom window casing. The cat ran toward the bathroom and I yelled at him to get away from what was now an open inside window. I shut and locked it.

Then it hit me. If the window fell out, why didn’t I hear a crash? Besides, that storm window was a tight fit and I had tape along the bottom of it.

I peeked out and couldn’t see anything moving. I opened the door, stepped out and saw my storm window on its side. Someone had propped the half-broken window against the house. The sound I heard must have been the tape coming off.

Knowing someone could stand beneath the glow of my yard light and take out a window while my car is in the driveway and there are other lights on is a bad feeling. I’ve often heard the average thief doesn’t want to hurt people but I’d rather not test that rumor.