pardon

Pardon my absence yesterday. It was totally unintended. I was actually sitting down Monday, while dinner was on the stove top, working on my post when the worst storm I’ve ever seen personally came rip roaring through our property. In our living room, we have 3 sets of double doors. One set blew open slamming against the outside of the house. While I was trying to close them back up and then hold them with all my might, I watched the wind knock the basketball goal down and then rip the tin garage doors off. If you remember, we have no ceiling in our house, just the tin roof, so the loudness factor and seeing the wind outside while the rain slipped underneath the doors and basically flooded our living room and bedroom, I thought I was witnessing a hurricane. In the midst of all that, the wind shattered an upstairs window and water was pouring in upstairs and then falling into the kitchen. Then the power went out. Can you feel the intensity of the situation? It brought Emma G to tears.

After the storm passed, we all ventured outside to access the damage. We have so much to be thankful for. All cars but one escaped damage. Most homes (besides some busted windows) were just fine. And most of all, no one was hurt. Massive tree trunks were on the ground, ones that, had they fallen the opposite way, could have caused serious damage. That tree trunk that my hand is on is so big around that, if you hug it, your arms wouldn’t touch. This massive storm left us without power until about 2:00 yesterday afternoon thus my post was left unfinished (and will be saved until next week).

On our drive to town yesterday, we noticed that all the tall grass and the eucalyptus trees were totally bowed over in the direction that the wind was blowing. It was strong, people! I was reflecting today on how situations like this, although terrible, can really bring people together. In the aftermath, everyone works together to clean-up, restore, and rebuild, because our home was affected. I love that kind of unity and working together!