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Pine barely misses sleeping houseguest

Christina Proctor

Some days luck is just with a person. On Wednesday morning Alex Freeman was a lucky man.

Freeman had been visiting his friends Wendell Rabbito and Pam Roles in their home in the 700 block of Taylor Way for several days. The storm Tuesday night was a windy one but Freeman was sleeping fine in a guest room on the top floor of the A-frame house until around 4 a.m., when the top of a pine tree broke off and made a beeline for his head.

The top crashed through the roof like a spike, entering the opposite wall a foot above Freeman’s head.



Freeman said he had a hard time going back to sleep after the close call.

“I slept down on the couch for a while and then moved to the other guest room. I said, ‘I’m OK, but if it happens again I’m out of here,'” he said with a smile. “Maybe somebody’s trying to tell me something. Maybe I should go to church this week.”



“It sounded like a cannon going off,” Rabbito said of the rude awakening. “It looks like someone threw a spear straight into the house.”

Rabbito moved in April from North Carolina to South Lake Tahoe with his fiancee, Roles. The house is owned by Roles’ parents, who informed them it wasn’t the first time the pine tree has brought them grief.

“Two years ago part of the same tree broke off and took out the bottom porch and part of it hit the neighbor’s house,” Rabbito said. “We’ve been talking about removing it.”

The rough night hasn’t dampened Rabbito’s enthusiasm for the area. He said he’s looking forward to some snow.

“We’re going to stay,” Rabbito said. “I love it here. It’s beautiful country.”


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