Friday, June 8, 2007

Stormy Night

Well last night our place was shakin'. A line of storms came through. We were under a tornado watch all afternoon until midnight and at just about 10:30 pm, the storm hit. Steve and I had taken Zoe for a late dinner after graduation and we got home about 9:30 pm. I went out to the girls and removed their fly masks and the wind had been kickin' up all day. They were nervous. We were about to crawl into bed at about 10:30 and suddenly the house shook and Steve looked outside and all I heard was, "Holy crap, turn off the computers!!" Me, already in just a t-shirt and underwear looked out the window and then ran to the computers. The rain was a complete sheet of white at a right angle. The trees as well. I scrambled for my boots and jeans. Steve was already downstairs and Zoe too. Spot, the border collie was hiding in my closet and the other dogs and cats were under our feet. Now, mind you, we live in a converted barn. This place is over 100 years old and post and beam. No nails. It was built before nails, just wooden pegs, hefty ones, none the less. When the wind blows like that, you can feel it. There is no basement, just a first floor foundation, acts like a basement, though with about 3 foot thick stone walls.I haven't seen a storm like this in about 8 years, not with these kind of winds. It lasted about 30 minutes and when it was over, Steve and I went out with the flashlight to survey the damage and make sure the animals were alright. The horses for shook up but alright (glad I left to the pasture) and the goats were none worse for the wear. I lost a huge lilac bush about 12 foot tall, the old pear tree, various branches from other trees, a few shingles and the 36' oval above ground pool completely collapsed in and wrecked, but we all are o.k. and it could have been so much worse. They were straight line winds clocked at over 75 miles per hour. I can wait another 8 years for the next one, as much as I do love thunderstorms.

5 comments:

Midlife Mom said...

WOW AND DOUBLE WOW! I have never experienced anything like what you described and don't want to! Yikes! I would have been in the closet with the dog! Were the horses outside in the pasture? Mine get all nerved up if we have just a lightening storm so I get them in the barn as quick as I can or they run franticly around the pasture and I'm afraid they will knock down some of the fencing and get out. Glad you made it through okay!

Rising Rainbow said...

I'm glad that everyone is ok. Lots of regulars were missing from the marestare chat because of the storms. I hope they fared ok too. This weather has just been so odd this year.

Here it's in the 50s and this time last week it was the 90s. Don't have a clue what's coming next and if it's something bad I'd just as soon not know.

BarnGoddess said...

omg. how scary for y'all!

glad your animals are okay.

If there is even a small chance of thunderstorms in my area, I leave Scooter out in the pasture and pray he can find shelter somewhere on his 30 acres.

living here in tornado alley, bad storms can still 'shake' me up.

Callie said...

Well, Thanks all for the concern. Yesterday (Sunday) after tidying the house before Zoe's graduation party, I glanced up at the wall which is very high in our extension, peaked ceiling and all, only to notice a huge crack in my drywall and part of it pushed out. The wind/storm moved the outer roof truss. And then I realized the neighbors tree is busted and the only thing keeping it from falling in Zoe's window is the old giant tree I always worry about in storms.

Anonymous said...

With the abundance of blogs out there about cats and dogs, it’s good to see one about horses! You seem like you’re really into horses and I’m sure you’ve been paying attention to the news out there lately about anti-slaughter legislation. It’s a big deal —horses are important, domestic animals that should be treated humanely like the cats and dogs that many of us love, too.

I thought you might be interested in learning about The National Horse Protection League. It’s a new online community dedicated to horses and the people who love them — people just like you. We want to make sure that horses are kept out of slaughterhouses, and that they’re taken care of on the track, in the fields and in barns. But NHPL is about more than just horse safety; it’s a community of horse-lovers. Our members can post pictures and stories about their favorite horses, comment on our blog, and check out features like horse art, equine care updates, and the latest news about the horse world.

We’d love for you to take a look at our site, www.horse-protection.org, and let your readers know about it. The only way to get horses the attention they deserve is by spreading the word.


Best,
Jenna