The Day After

Last night just after 10 the thunderstorms that had been rumbling around us finally let loose. The wind, seemingly our of nowhere, slammed into the house and the hail started. Above is a picture I took two minutes into the deluge. The storm lasted about 10 minutes for us.



Even though it was late the storm was so loud there was no way we could go to sleep. We lit our old oil lamp and played games. The power came on around midnight.



Until the sun came up the next morning we didn't know how bad the damage was. My blackberry bushes were loaded and so bushy and leafy. This is what's left. Miraculously there are some berries left on the vines.

And the leaves! They are everywhere! Leaves are stuck on every side of the house and are just starting to fall off the windows. The green on my lawn that looks like grass is in actuality leaves. My rain gutters are full and I need to decide whether or not to brave my fear of heights and clean them out before the rain starts again in a few hours. I can make it about four rungs up so that should do it.




All of my flowers are gone. In the deep shade under my cottonwood tree (which has lost a third of it's leaves) I had a garden of coleus, hosta and impatiens. They are all pulverized. In the front I had lavender, mums, marigolds, snapdragons... they're gone too.



Up and down my street are trees knocked down and split in half. This tree is my view from the kitchen window in our church yard. If it had fallen the other direction roof over the YW's room would have broken open.

There are still people without power. Houses have been crushed and cars damaged. I'm sad about my property but I feel blessed that nothing serious happened to me or my family. So I don't have as much shade? I have windows!