the storm

5:50, monday morning, we awoke to the radio, "dangerous storm moving into the area...possible hail...high winds...take shelter..." by 6:00 we had the kids in the basement, the deck furniture pushed against the house, and all the computers unplugged. that is all we really had time to do before the storm hit. and then the lights went out at 6:10.

a few miles away some friends of ours awoke to this:

it is amazing the impact that those few moments of storm have had on our community: somewhere around 150,000 without power for days, roads blocked by huge trees, businesses closed, so much property damage, so many trees down! later we heard that the highest winds speeds were recorded up to 94 mph at the airport only a few miles from us.

our power was restored at 1:30 this morning, lights all over the house were on and clocks started blinking. the funny thing is, after waiting for days for the lights to come back on, i immediately turned them all off! i spent the day catching up on laundry, cleaning out the refrigerator (oh, how it pained me to dump 2 gallons of milk down the drain) and then grocery shopping to refill it.

even while we were inconvenienced by the power outage, i was very mindful of how fortunate we were to have been keep safe from the storm. and despite it all, i love the sense of community that comes from a shared experience: neighbors sharing a generator. tractors pulling a tree trunk from a widow's driveway. my boys doing a man's work clearing brush and debris from our friends' yard, side by side with their dad, learning what it means to love your neighbor.

everyday gift: shelter in a storm