11:22 pm....the phone rang. So late to be calling, but after taking the call, I realized there was a bad hail storm coming my way. I was able to get the pickup in the garage and my potted flowers up against the house. This was just the perfect amount of warning as this storm was not predicted earlier in the day. It it hard and it hit fast. I was sitting on my living room couch when it began....11:36 pm....the windows were being pelted with sideways hail with the wind coming out of the west. The shingles were flapping on the roof and you could not see the country yard lights outside of the windows. I just sat there and cried for the farmers who are exhausted from planting and irrigating (so early) and now they have the potential to loose it all. 11:41 pm, it was over and on to the next farm.....
Wow, now, more than ever, do I truly understand the phrase, 'it is not in my control.' Mother nature is taking a rough toll on us through in all of her wild ways....forest fires, hail, and wind. It makes you realize how blessed we are to have what we have, knowing that it will be there when get back. This is something I totally take for granted some days. There are people in Colorado losing their homes right and left and everything they own. It is so very sad.
These beautiful chairs, for example, that my daddy made for me, sit outside my house. Each night I look at them thinking, I should just sit and relax in those chairs and watch the sun go down. Then last night, after waking up to that crazy storm, I realized that they might not be there when I wake up. That wind was so harsh that it broke several windows on the west side....2 storm windows and 1 screen on the house and 1 window on the shop! Luckily, my wonderful chairs were still there and not in shambles like all the trees, crops, and flowers!
I got up and took a bike ride to assess the fields from the road. It looked like quite a bit of hail damage, but depending on the stage and type of crop, things may be ok. We have already had several calls here at the elevator from farmers needing more seed to replant their bean fields.
Moral of the story: I am thankful for the wonderful, much needed rain we got and I will work to simply enjoy the beauty of life. You never know what tomorrow may bring. "You have to be alive while you are living."
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