Day 147:

I've already written my post for this blog, but I'm sitting in the middle of a restaurant in probably the least convenient spot for the workers and I'm not going to sit here to place everything on. I'll try to get some pictures up.

Know I am ok.
I have plenty of flashlights.
So I'm back up. COOL
So here's what I wrote.




Last night I went through the most frightening storm I've witnessed since the blizzard of '78. Now this storm wasn't as long or big as the blizzard, but it was filled with micro-bursts. Two storms collided over us. The sound that woke me was startling, I realized rain was coming in sideways from the west and it caused my framed pictures on my stairwell to fall. I got up to close the two windows near me just as lightening, which was bouncing all around, struck a huge maple and sent sparks from, I believe, a pole flying in the air. It could be that lightening struck both a pole and a tree right in front of me and then I heard a huge strike and crash, a tree came down just on the other side.

I lay down on my bed, the power had gone with the sparks. I lay there for awhile waiting for my cozy tree house of a bedroom to become chaos. I had seen a flashlight on the stairwell window sill on my way up and I just hoped that water had not harmed it. I felt around in the dark waiting for a flash and found it. It worked and as I viewed my stairwell I realized not one piece of glass had broken.

Downstairs I thought maybe my cable would still be ok, the box was flashing, the phone was out and no internet. No information. I realized I had no batteries for my radio either and luckily the one battery operated clock was fine.

The storm relaxed, DPW guys in pick ups came by with flashing lights and my neighbor, who is a captain in the police department, hopped in his cat and flew out of here. Sirens started passing and the horns of fire trucks.

I went back up to bed. The only danger I thought about was "what if the maple tree in front comes down on my bedroom?"

I woke up twice during the night , turned my trusty flashlight on and read. When I got up and came downstairs it was 7:30. I threw on my clothes and grabbed my camera. I was not the first investigator to show.

They say it will be Saturday before I get power. I have no nothing. The kids have gathered all afternoon to clean up the big tree and the town has been working nonstop cleaning up multitudes of trees that came down all over the valley. Not one limb came down on my property. Thank God. At Emma's school there are 3 or 4 down. At the college several small trees were lifted up from the roots. The damage is extensive from both lightening and a funnel.

Yet the flowers still shine through.

For me the experience is all metaphorical. Margie had a dream Saturday night that she and Grace got lifted up high by a funnel and landed back down on her feet. Then last night she was at her mother in law's when one did lift a tree pretty close to them, too. I just felt like I was Dorothy and besides the inconvenience of no power, I am fine, head cold and all.

This experience of having someone you love so much die slowly is a funnel and Margie is right, we'll land on our feet, all of us.

But boy it sucks while we're in it!