Crack, Snap and BOOM!

Well, what a day we've had!

I got up at 3:30 a.m. and stood by our front window to survey the snow that was accumulating, as well as the limbs that had fallen. While standing there I was frightened by a crack, snap and boom as a branch broke and part of it landed on the roof just up from the window where I stood. This photo was taken hours later as it was still dark when that occurred, but you get the idea. It was startling at 3:30 a.m!

I knew I needed to get up by 5:00 so I went back to bed and tried to calm down and get some more rest. I tried, I really did, but I kept hearing distant cracks, snacks and booms. Then, I heard one that was not-so-distant. In fact, it was right over our heads. That window is our bedroom and our bed is right under the window. Again, this photo was taken hours later. It wasn't that bad but usually that branch is way, way up in the sky.

I tried to go to work but I didn't make it very far. I was dodging around tree limbs down in the road but after going under two very low power lines I started getting nervous and went back home.

As the sun came up, we saw more and more damage.

We also found our garage covered in limbs.

Sam's car had taken some hits. 

And our yard pretty much looked like a snow bomb had exploded. 

 Every time I went outside I heard more cracks and snaps and booms.

 It sounded so eery out there!

This tree in our front yard usually turns so bright gold that it seems to light up our living room. I've always loved that! This year, though, it didn't even get a chance to change colors. Much of it is on the ground. Also, a lot of broken limbs are caught on other branches still, waiting to crash down.

Mike got up on the garage to relieve some of the weight before it went through the roof. It made me rather nervous but he was careful. He'd saw off bits and throw them down. I'd gather them, lop off some of the smaller limbs and move them aside.  The whole time we'd keep hearing more cracks and booms from our trees as well as those of our neighbors.

Maria and Eric and their girls came over for the day as they did not have power. It gets cold quickly! Eric helped get started on some of the clean up, including climbing on our roof to push off some of the big limbs up there. Thanks, Eric! Click here to see what's going on at their place.

We actually had a rather enjoyable day, despite mourning the damage done to our trees. Maria and the girls helped make it less sad. Our yard is just one of hundreds that are such a mess. It will be a long time before we get all the rubble cleared out but we kept our power, have no holes through our roof and no one fell off the roof! That is the most important part of this day. 

Eric also picked up my camera and took a bunch of photos of the little girls that turned out really well. I will share them, maybe tomorrow. I just don't want them posted with all of these pictures of destruction. It just doesn't go well. You get that, don't you?

Today was one for the record books in this town. Mike Seidel, of The Weather Channel, broadcast from just a mile or two from our house. That really isn't a good thing, is it? Nevertheless, it was our claim to fame on this sadly memorable day.

Stay warm and dry everyone!

Weather Channel Addiction

My husband asked me today if I had a Weather Channel addiction?  I do.  Does anyone else have this problem?  With all the recent bad storms, I find myself glued to the Weather Channel, as if my knowing or not knowing what's going on elsewhere makes any difference. 

I check our weather only occasionally as we don't often have really scary weather.  We have plenty of cold and wind, annoying weather but not usually frightening.  However, I know and love people in other parts of the country.

Of course I have to check on weather in North Carolina as one of my "chicks" lives there now.  If I hear of bad weather there I try to make sure Ben and Sara are aware of it.  I'm pretty sure Sara keeps up with weather warnings, and I am grateful for that, but I doubt that Ben does, certainly not with the level of obsession that I manage on their behalf!

We've got friends and relatives in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.  They seem like pretty innocent states but they are quite capable of nasty weather!  We experienced plenty of that ourselves when we lived in Minnesota, even saw a tornado or two.  So, I continue to monitor the Weather Channel on their behalf.

Montana isn't so tornado prone but lately they've had a lot of flooding.  The Weather Channel hasn't been making much note of that but I thank Facebook friends for making sure I have access to the data necessary to feed my worries.

We have friends in Missouri.  They've been affected by tornadoes in the past so I monitor the news, hoping not to hear the name of their town.  So far this year I have not.

And now, I have someone that I care about in Oklahoma City.  Emily, who just spent this last week-end here with Maria and Eric, almost immediately felt like family.  I should have considered her location of origin before I got to know her!  She left here and went directly into the danger zone and I expanded my worry duties.  It is exhausting.  I really need to save my affections for people who live in states that are boring by Weather Channel standards.  Too late in this case. 

I admit that part of the problem is that weather is just so interesting to me!  Oh boy, now I really AM sounding old.  It's true, though.  I've watched the clip over and over of an entire power pole floating through the air, rising up and over the storm chaser who provided the film.   That is scary and I wonder about the sanity of the storm chaser, but it is also fascinating.  There is such power there! 

http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/news-crew-gets-close-to-tornado-20732#20732



But then, when I see news of the aftermath, the lives disrupted, the property damaged, and it is too much... too much pain, too much horror, too much sadness.  I have a pretty good imagination but I don't think I can adequately imagine what it would be like to have my home destroyed and then have to pick through the rubble for missing family members.  What it must be like to look around my town and find 75% of it destroyed.  It's too much!

So, I admit to my miserable fascination with storms.  I can't hardly tear myself away from the television when things fire up.  I follow all that with feeling shame for my fascination with these storms, disappointed in myself when I worry, wondering if that is just a sign of weak faith. 

Is anyone else dealing with these kinds of obsessions and worries?  It's not just me, is it?