Sitting Through the Storm

Am sitting at the keyboard at 6:15 am. Sky became dark and darker still. Storm warnings have been sounded. This is flatland Illinois. This is where no mountain, nary a hill, stands in the way between wind source and us! So we take storm warnings seriously. Especially this year. Many heavy storms weathered already. More to come from the looks of it.

This has been an exceptional year for weather. Mild winter, warmer than usual. Good early rainy season, great for planting and rebuilding root systems in trees, shrubs and perennials. Wonderful spring growth season.

Then the heat. And dry period; long, arduous, unrelenting. But dry air. Livable.

Then the storms. 70 to 100 mile per hour winds, backed with lightening, thunder claps so loud you sat stunned, and rain. Lots of rain. An inch here, two inches there, some places getting upwards of 3 inches in an hour or less.

Century old trees uprooted; some blown down, broken mid mast like toothpicks. Electric power out for days. Roads closed for days, too. Fourth of July parades cancelled, fireworks, too. Unheard of cancellations in these parts.

But here I sit looking out the window and nervously typing as quickly as possible before the power leaves us. Rain driven by heavy winds. Trees tossed higgledy piggledy. Dark. Very dark. Spooky.

Just another summer storm of 2012.  We need the rain certainly. Just not the violence and proof that Mother Nature does hold the power!  We are believers, already!

I’ll take a pause here and inspect the homestead for damage or storm’s progress.

All’s well so far. Storm has calmed. Still very dark and a huge storm lies to our northwest heading our way. So more storms, maybe for the entire day.

When I say dark, we’re talking about nearly midnight dark; street lamps are on. Dark!

Later: For hours this went on but finally the dawn arrived around noon and the day began to become a little more normal. By 3 PM we had sunshine. Temps had dropped from the 80s in the morning to 70 as the storm passed. Then afternoon saw temps resume upper 80s and high humidity. Steamy.

News reports say storms did lots of damage, again, but this time to the east of this closer in towards Chicago. Still, 300,000 without power; many more trees down and houses crushed.

Tonight we are expecting more storms and then tomorrow a return to near 100 degrees. A hot summer, indeed. That’s not so bad; it’s the violent storms I wish to avoid.

Just needed to share this with you all.

July 25, 2012