Sunday, September 7, 2008

All Is Well That Ends


All is well that ends.

That's one of my favorite phrases, and especially descriptive of how I feel today. Hanna took all day coming up here. When I locked the horses in their stalls and gave them extra hay around 6:30 last night, it startied to really rain hard. Silk had been agitated all day, racing around the pasture and standing on alert at the corral gate. When I put her in the barn, she was so tense, her neck rigid. She could feel it coming. In two hours, we got four inches of rain. By the time Hanna left town, we had almost six inches.

Around eight o’clock, they issued a tornado warning. The storm was causing wind to swirl back in the opposite direction of how it usually travels here, so instead of moving east and south, it was reversing north and west. This caused tornado conditions for about two hours.

We watched it closely thanks to some really excellent local TV coverage (what a surprise!) and the amazingly accurate radar tracking on weather.com. The giant swirl swept just to the right of us, crossing above our neighborhood and moving north. We were so lucky! There was no way that we could get Pepper down to the basement. My mom was already asleep, and we didn’t want to wake her and scare her. I debated whether to make a dash to the barn and open the front of the stalls so the horses could run out into the corral if there was indeed a tornado and it took out the barn. As I saw the big red blob on the radar screen slide alongside us and upwards, I decided that opening the doors would only flood the stalls. Besides, the rain was coming down so hard that I couldn’t even see six feet in front of me. And the basement started flooding, so that needed our attention. I was so glad my husband wasn't traveling on a business trip as he usually seems to be when these weather dramas occur here.

When the rain stopped after midnight, the wind really kicked up. At 3 am, I woke up because it was eerily quiet and completely pitch black. I couldn't even see my hand when I lifted it in front of my face. No power. Fortunately, I had a flashlight next to the bed. We just got our electricity back late this morning. Around 6:15, I was so relieved to see two beautiful red heads sticking out above the Dutch doors of the barn when I went out to feed the horses. I knew that meant it was dry in there. The corral was even clear, thanks to our ditch clearing efforts.

The sun is shining, and the humidity is low. With each step I took this morning, walking down the driveway to pick up the New York Times, I said “Thank” “You” “Thank” “You” “Thank” “You”.

13 comments:

Ewa said...

Lucky you... great...

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

I'm so grateful for you and your family...2 legged and 4 legged.

Your photo above just exudes peace and calm.

Enjoy the day, Victoria. :)

~Lisa

detroit dog said...

Life is good. :-)

Anonymous said...

Omigosh! I cant even imagine having to go through that. I am so glad that everyone is okay.

the7msn said...

Oh, how I love happy endings. Mother Nature decided you had enough to deal with this summer and cut you a break. I'm very glad she did.

Cactus Jack Splash said...

so glad you guys are safe and only a bit soggy

Janet Roper said...

Glad to hear everyone weathered the storm.
Harmony,
Janet

AnnL said...

I'm glad you came through the storm unscathed. That must have been terribly frightening to see those winds coming so close. I don't think I would have been so calm.

I often wonder what I should do with the horses if there is a tornado warning here. Is it better to have them out in their paddock or in their stalls? I'm just glad you didn't have to face that.

Ann

Carolynn Anctil said...

That's great news, Victoria. It looks like peace has been restored and everyone is back enjoying their routine.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know horses sensed storms! But then again, we never have storms in Niger, and I haven't had a horse elsewhere... We do get tropical rains which are very heavy, but the water is pretty humid and the horses just turns their back to it and wait for it to be over. Which it is after a few hours or so... Glad all is well with you all!

Callie said...

Glad you made it through it all unscaved! Storms can be so hairy! So glad all is well!

OneCowgirl said...

Glad you are ok!

Gecko said...

Phew, I'm so glad to hear it didn't go over the top of you all up there!!! I've said it before and I'll say it again...I don't think I can even imagine that!!