Timber!!!

Well, it's been interesting at our house lately, to say the least! Yesterday we were enjoying a quiet day at home (the kind I love) and had invited two little playmates over to play at the house. After lunch I went out on the front porch and was sitting talking to my neighbor and we both commented on the extreme change in weather. Earlier in the morning (running Cole to swimming lessons) it had been so, so hot--even at 9:30 a.m. but sitting on the porch it was much, much cooler. Well, those of you who know me well know I never am one to know what the weather will be--I'm more of a "go step out on the porch and see if you need a coat" kinda mom (and I'm only slightly exagerating). So, I learned sitting on the steps from my neighbor that we were about to get a big thunderstorm, even a chance of hail. And I immediately thought well that sure makes sense because this was a pretty drastic and sudden change in weather. The next little bit of time was spent having the kids clean up the yard, roll up the van windows, shut the sandbox, move the firepit into the garage....etc. By this time it was eerily dark for that time of day. I moved the kids indoors, called my friend, Jen to say don't bother picking them up right away because she would just get soaked in the storm--and then settled the kids in the basement watching a movie. A few minutes later, no power. So, I moved the kids into the living room near our large front window because that was the most well lit room in the house and I knew my boys would be fascinated by watching the hail that was now pinging the front window. Well, the kids all moved right over to the window to watch the action when RIGHT before our eyes a very large tree in our front yard split and fell!!! Providentially it fell between our neighbor's house and ours. Had it fallen into our house it would have undoubtedly hurt me and all 5 kids who were standing there. Tom had removed the storm window to repaint and clean so there would have been just one pane of glass between us and the tree. The entire ordeal was such a surprise and just one of those instances where the quietest of days is turned upside down. Tom commented (after he got home) that this really helps us put horrific events like Katrina in perspective. He said imagine our whole neighborhood being flooded and trees like this being teensy tiny issues in comparison to the magnitude of destruction leveled on your city. We just couldn't imagine try as hard as we could.

We also learned no home owner's insurance policies cover wind damage (unless of course, "it falls on a covered building"). There was no damage to our house but some definite (but not huge) damage done to our neighbor's house. And our home owners's insurance says she has to file a separate claim even though the tree is ours--doesn't seem right does it?

So, yesterday was a day of thankfulness for the safety of our family and friends who were visiting. My friend, Jen came over and stayed with me until Tom could get home from work and she was SO helpful! I must confess I was wigging out a bit but she definitely held me together. Then, in the evening a co-worker of Tom's (a theologian/logger--what a combo, eh?) came over to clear out our driveway--and did it in 46 minutes!!!

Sooooooo.......Thank God for safety, friends who share your rainy days (ha!), and a spouse who is so gentle with me when I come unglued.

In the next few weeks, we'll be working on repairs for our neighbor and have to take down the rest of the tree--but tomorrow's problems will take care of themselves. And this is so small compared to the real problems of the world that we don't think about near enough. But one of the bright spots about this whole ordeal was knowing I had a whopper of a blog story to share with you all!