It's been storming like crazy in some areas for a while now and the Weather Channel has been featuring "Extreme Weather" this week so I thought I'd ask you for your "storm stories."
My inspiration came yesterday after a storm of our own. I work nights and sleep days so I was in bed at 5pm when the storm woke me up. Our house is in the woods and 900 feet from the road so if a tree falls on it and squishes me while I'm sleeping no one will know until after my husband gets home from work. I looked out the window and the wind was blowing so hard all the underbrush in the woods was laying flat on the ground and it was raining sideways. The phone rang, it was my husband calling to make sure everything was OK and letting me know a big storm was coming. Me, "Umm, honey it's already here." Bruce, "The wind is just starting to pick up over here." His shop is about 5 miles from the house.
I start putting stuff under the stairs just in case we have a tornado then grab the cell phone and head back to bed keeping one ear open for the sound of falling trees. My alarm is the next thing I hear, it's 3 hours later and the worst of the storm has passed but it's still raining and there are occasional bolts of lightning. My husband will be home in another hour so I start getting ready for work. I'm packing my lunch when he calls to say he's picked up the dogs from "grandma's" and is on his way home. He also says I should leave early because there is water standing everywhere. I'm already one step ahead of him on that account and he describes the yards he drives by while I finish getting ready for work. He hangs up when he's about a mile from the house, I've jokingly told him to call me if any trees have fallen across the driveway.
Two minutes later my cell phone rings and it's the tone I've set so I know it's him calling. I pick up the phone and say, "You are NOT the person I want to hear from!" He says, "If you want to get to work on time you better bring me the chain saw and a can of gas. Be careful because I'm not even to the creek yet and I don't know what else might be down." "How big is the tree?" I ask. "I don't know, all I can see are leaves and it's taller than I am." he replies. "Why don't I just meet you by the tree and take your truck to work and you bring my car back to the house?" I ask. "Just bring the saw, a waterproof coat and a hat, I'll have an opening for you to get through soon." he says. I get my work stuff into the car then load the stuff he's going to need to move the tree. When I get down the driveway far enough to see what has fallen I know he's not going to be able to make me a path in a short time, this thing is HUGE. The only reason I can see the truck is because the headlights are on. He climbs through the tree and I open the trunk to get the saw. All I can think about is the Snoopy line "It was a dark and stormy night." and realize going through with this task is ridiculous. "Why don't I just take the truck, it's on the other side, we can get this cut up tomorrow." I suggest again. He says, "It will only take me 5 minutes to make an opening for you. Did you bring me a hat?" It starts to rain harder and I look at my watch, I've eaten up my extra time packing the saw, etc. and REALLY need to leave for work if I'm going to make it on time. "I need to leave now if I'm going to make it on time, just let me take the truck." I say. A bolt of lightning cuts across the sky followed by a second one. He looks at the sky and says, "Get the dogs out of the truck." I can barely get through the tree that's laying across the driveway, it's like climbing through a jungle even though I've gone to the right side as he suggested. He never would have been able to get an opening large enough for a car cut out of that thing in 5 minutes. I can't see the end of the tree but the part that I'm climbing over is as big around as I am. I get the dogs out and we help them through the tree then I put my work stuff in the truck and head off while he loads the dogs into my car and goes back to the house.
Bruce was already cutting on the tree when I arrived home this morning at 7am. He'd been working for 30 minutes and the driveway was still completely blocked. Two hours later we had the driveway clear. This was not a tree by the way, it was simply a branch from an extremely large tree that stands next to the driveway. The broken end of the branch was easily two feet in diameter and a hollow spot was full of scat where a raccoon had been living in it. We'd suffered no damage with the exception of a couple of deep holes in the gravel driveway where the thing impacted and for that we're extremely grateful. I'm also glad I have a husband with enough sense to figure out when I'm right and abort a project before someone gets killed for no reason. This morning I thanked him for seeing things my way last night. If the house had been on fire or we'd been experiencing some sort of medical emergency the danger of cutting the giant branch in the storm to allow help to get through would have been an acceptable risk. We had no emergency and there was a vehicle on each side of the tree so the risk simply wasn't worth it and I'm happy to say my husband and I are alive and well and the giant branch has been reduced to firewood.
Let's hear your stories!
Ber :lilbunny:
My inspiration came yesterday after a storm of our own. I work nights and sleep days so I was in bed at 5pm when the storm woke me up. Our house is in the woods and 900 feet from the road so if a tree falls on it and squishes me while I'm sleeping no one will know until after my husband gets home from work. I looked out the window and the wind was blowing so hard all the underbrush in the woods was laying flat on the ground and it was raining sideways. The phone rang, it was my husband calling to make sure everything was OK and letting me know a big storm was coming. Me, "Umm, honey it's already here." Bruce, "The wind is just starting to pick up over here." His shop is about 5 miles from the house.
I start putting stuff under the stairs just in case we have a tornado then grab the cell phone and head back to bed keeping one ear open for the sound of falling trees. My alarm is the next thing I hear, it's 3 hours later and the worst of the storm has passed but it's still raining and there are occasional bolts of lightning. My husband will be home in another hour so I start getting ready for work. I'm packing my lunch when he calls to say he's picked up the dogs from "grandma's" and is on his way home. He also says I should leave early because there is water standing everywhere. I'm already one step ahead of him on that account and he describes the yards he drives by while I finish getting ready for work. He hangs up when he's about a mile from the house, I've jokingly told him to call me if any trees have fallen across the driveway.
Two minutes later my cell phone rings and it's the tone I've set so I know it's him calling. I pick up the phone and say, "You are NOT the person I want to hear from!" He says, "If you want to get to work on time you better bring me the chain saw and a can of gas. Be careful because I'm not even to the creek yet and I don't know what else might be down." "How big is the tree?" I ask. "I don't know, all I can see are leaves and it's taller than I am." he replies. "Why don't I just meet you by the tree and take your truck to work and you bring my car back to the house?" I ask. "Just bring the saw, a waterproof coat and a hat, I'll have an opening for you to get through soon." he says. I get my work stuff into the car then load the stuff he's going to need to move the tree. When I get down the driveway far enough to see what has fallen I know he's not going to be able to make me a path in a short time, this thing is HUGE. The only reason I can see the truck is because the headlights are on. He climbs through the tree and I open the trunk to get the saw. All I can think about is the Snoopy line "It was a dark and stormy night." and realize going through with this task is ridiculous. "Why don't I just take the truck, it's on the other side, we can get this cut up tomorrow." I suggest again. He says, "It will only take me 5 minutes to make an opening for you. Did you bring me a hat?" It starts to rain harder and I look at my watch, I've eaten up my extra time packing the saw, etc. and REALLY need to leave for work if I'm going to make it on time. "I need to leave now if I'm going to make it on time, just let me take the truck." I say. A bolt of lightning cuts across the sky followed by a second one. He looks at the sky and says, "Get the dogs out of the truck." I can barely get through the tree that's laying across the driveway, it's like climbing through a jungle even though I've gone to the right side as he suggested. He never would have been able to get an opening large enough for a car cut out of that thing in 5 minutes. I can't see the end of the tree but the part that I'm climbing over is as big around as I am. I get the dogs out and we help them through the tree then I put my work stuff in the truck and head off while he loads the dogs into my car and goes back to the house.
Bruce was already cutting on the tree when I arrived home this morning at 7am. He'd been working for 30 minutes and the driveway was still completely blocked. Two hours later we had the driveway clear. This was not a tree by the way, it was simply a branch from an extremely large tree that stands next to the driveway. The broken end of the branch was easily two feet in diameter and a hollow spot was full of scat where a raccoon had been living in it. We'd suffered no damage with the exception of a couple of deep holes in the gravel driveway where the thing impacted and for that we're extremely grateful. I'm also glad I have a husband with enough sense to figure out when I'm right and abort a project before someone gets killed for no reason. This morning I thanked him for seeing things my way last night. If the house had been on fire or we'd been experiencing some sort of medical emergency the danger of cutting the giant branch in the storm to allow help to get through would have been an acceptable risk. We had no emergency and there was a vehicle on each side of the tree so the risk simply wasn't worth it and I'm happy to say my husband and I are alive and well and the giant branch has been reduced to firewood.
Let's hear your stories!
Ber :lilbunny:
