after the storm

It was really late, really late Tuesday night. The wind was starting to pick up outside and we could hear the rain coming down. I love thunderstorms in Oklahoma…the kind that are just hard and loud, but don’t cause damage. We didn’t pay much attention to it until we heard an awful screeching sound outside. Our cat, Poppy, has been sleeping outside more lately and my first thought was, “Oh no, the wind caught Poppy!” Then I saw Poppy asleep on a chair.

But, I did get up to make sure the coop was still standing. Dad & I built it to protect against predators and the winds that come sweeping across our field. The coop was steady and strong. I couldn’t see the trampoline though. I thought it was just too dark, windy and rainy. When things calmed a little Chris went outside in search of it. Eventually he found it – far from where it had once stood.

When the kids got up I asked them if the yard looked different….these are their faces when they realized wind had carried their trampoline away.

Here’s the girls checking things out…and where the trampoline once stood.

I took this next shot from the place the trampoline was the night of the storm. I’ve been in Oklahoma basically all my life and have owned a trampoline all my life. I’ve never had one move that far. We are thankful it didn’t cause any damage to anyone or anything. This image is unedited – things are crazy green after a storm!

It was evident it had done a few flips before landing in that position. We are also thankful the chickens and coop were fine.

Surveying a yard after a storm is always so interesting to me. Seeing what things get picked up and moved and what things remain seemingly untouched. We are working on building a fence around the garden. The posts gave a clear indication of the wind direction.

We lost some big branches off the sycamore and a lot of our apples.

We were able to move the trampoline back and get it all fixed up. We made our very first batch of apple butter. We didn’t have to water the garden and we never lost electricity. We got to have friends over that needed a place to stay. The storm hit other areas of town a lot harder. Lots of homes without electricity. Lots of trees uprooted on top of homes. Lots of flooding. Lots of true damage and loss.

While I am not thankful for the damage or heartache storms can cause, I am thankful for storms in life. I am thankful for the things I learn when weathering a storm. I’m thankful for the topics that come up with my kids when they see their trampoline gone and their apples on the ground. I am thankful that while I can’t prevent storms in my life or theirs, I can walk through the aftermath with them and point to all the gifts that came when the rain stopped.