"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Spot on The Christmas Storm of 2006

~This is our home. I think our Christmas tree was a bit too big, what do you think?~~There are storms raging around our home tonight. The news has been full of dire predictions, and the forecast calls for high winds , low temperatures and power outages. I stepped outside and heard the winds and my heart began to race a little bit.....I used to love storms, and still do, but when the winds rage, well, I cannot quell the fear that rises up in me uninvited. As you can see from the pictures, an abundance of rain, hurricane speed winds and numerous big trees is a formula for disaster....and disaster is what we had here at Cedar Pond just before Christmas 2006.
~This is inside our sun room. Can you see the branches protruding through the ceiling? The tree on the roof here crushed and caved in the inner wall of the sun room. Amazingly though, not one of the 3 sky lights broke! "The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but deliverance from fear." Ralph Waldo Emerson ~Here is the ceiling of my craft room. We cut some of the branch off before I took pictures. The outer wall of this room was crushed and caved in."Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amidst the storm." Author Unknown ~Several trusses were damaged and / or broken. We had more than 10 huge fir, hemlock and cedar trees down on our property, one on the garage, several across the driveway and our private road."It is a time when one's spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm -swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden and the future but a way to death." Mark Twain (This is how I felt in almost all of 2007 ) ~The 2 trees ON and IN our home were in front of our home and shaded the front and our original dove cote. The dove cote was smashed to pieces. Our property was a scene of devastation. The power was out. We did not get power for over a week. We had huge tarps wired down to protect whatever was left of our roof and keep us dry. The wind storms raged almost continuously for weeks after this storm and we still had many BIG trees looming over our home. I succumbed to almost paralyzing and immobilizing fear that affected everything I thought or did. I slept on the sofa downstairs to : 1-keep the fire going for warmth and :2- because I was afraid the upstairs master bedroom ceiling would collapse on us while we slept and somebody needed to be able to call 911 ! Hubby had gone into the attic and described the damage to the roof, and I knew the rest of it would collapse. ( It didn't) ~Because of the extensive damage done to so much of the Pacific Northwest, we ended up on a waiting list to have the damage repaired. The damage done to our home was not repaired until the end of March and first week of April of 2007.There was one wind / rain storm after another for 2 or 3 months. The man we hired to cut down the remaining trees looming over our property was busy working 2 and 3 day 24 hour shifts for the city and for safety reasons could not cut down some of our trees til much later in the year...he was over worked, tired, and so very nice to us by coming out and cutting down the most threatening trees. ~If this had been the extent of the storms that raged and caused great destruction that year and the year following, then in hind sight I would have kissed the storm and thanked God for such little trials. But God knows what we can handle and in His wisdom , this was but a preparation for what was ahead..but the future storm was not a literal weather disturbance.....anyway, I will finish this in other posts. God provided friends and His comfort and shelter, and we have not enough words of gratitude and thanksgiving for the blessings of friends who are self-sacrificial ,but I will try! ~" For Thou hast been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in in his distress, a refuge from the storm..."Isaiah 25:4

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kathy, Oh, what devastation. All those lovely trees down and all that massive damage to your beautiful home. I cannot imagine. The photo of the work truck with the Christmas wreath really caught my attention.

shadow mountain jacobs farm said...

You did suffer a lot of damage. That storm was one of the worst, I remember. We only had trees down in the pasture and one fell across the gravel road but no damage to our house (thank you Lord). I know so very many people here in the Northwest had suffered damage and if I remember the state was declared a disaster. Did you get federal aid? I'm so glad you came out of it safely.

Anonymous said...

Kathy, I hope you are doing all right. What is the weather prediction now? Do you still have power? We are all praying for you! I'm so sorry you suffered such terrible devastation in 2006. I am terrified by storms. I can't imagine going through what you did, but I know that God upheld you through it, and will continue to do so. I hope you will update your blog soon to let us know if you are okay.

Anonymous said...

Oh geez that would scare me too! Thank goodness you were all safe but sorry for all the trouble you experienced!

It was supposed to rain here today and the clouds were filling up last night and poof this morning it's as sunny as can be!

Your RE Broker said...

Gosh, I didn't know you were hit so hard during the storm...nor my brother's family. I guess we were all busy tending to the damage we encountered. Until the hole in our roof was repaired, we had mice or rats in our home. :( Thankfully they've been gone since the roof was fixed. Hopefully this won't happen to any of us again...

Pamela said...

(Sorry I haven't had time to comment here lately--lots of rain and lots of cold and therefore lots of work. I do however always look forward to reading your blog every morning.)

I cannot believe damage like that--nor that you managed through it for so long before it was repaired! It must have well and truly been a nightmare.

With no power, how did you care for your animals? Was the pond a good supply of water?

KathyB. said...

Mildred, that photo became our Christmas card that year.

Shadow Mountain Jacobs,we were actually fortunate the damage was not more severe. Yes, the state was declared a disaster, and no, we did not get federal aid, we have a wonderful insurance company that got right onto things and made it so easy to deal with them and the financial end of things. THANK-YOU PEMCO Insurance!

Miss Linda, we are all right now, we have power. The power was flickering as I was writing this post. I should have turned off my computer, but I just kept a-typing, and the power remained on.When I view on the news the devastation left behind the storms that rage over the earth , well, I realize our trials that winter were small compared to what so many, many go through who lose everything, even their lives, or the lives of their loved ones.

Noble Pig, this was scary. I was in the hose when the trees hit ! Since you're just starting to build your dream home and winery, CUT down any and ALL trees that might fall on your place, or blow over and cause damage....and think trees that are small now but 10 to 20 years from now might tower over you.

AMC, I though of the storm when we went to your lovely home and saw all the beautiful and large fir trees over your home....kind of scary when you look up through your sky lights and see the trees appear to be leaning down and peeking in , huh?

Pamela,Fortunately, I had filled all water containers before the worst of the storm, I tend to do that when the winds pick up around here, and we had friends and family leave large , filled water jugs here for us. It always seems funny to me that in the midst of record rains and near floods the animals' water troughs run dry. If we had needed to we could have used the pond water, but glad I did not need to add to my unending chores the hard work of hauling water from the pond.

Anonymous said...

I remember when this happened, but I've never seen the pictures. WOW, I didn't realize that tree was so big! It makes me even more thankful for the floods we have to contend with, because at least they happen from the basement up. :-)

A. Joy said...

And there was Mom with her roaring fire in the woodstove, holes in the roof, but a lovely fire, to warm up our little MN who'd just about turned blue from the cold in our house. It was warmer outside than it was inside that week. ( And it wasn't warm outside. )

Your RE Broker said...

I try so hard not to look out the skylights during wind storms...I just make things worse for myself. Fortunately yesterday's wasn't as bad as anticipated. I hope all is well at your home.

LindaSue said...

Your comment about the Lord preparing you for the spiritual storms which were coming really hit home. Glad you are telling this story in retrospect rather than still be living through it. We located our house where there are no large trees (although in our part of Texas nothing is as big as the trees around your place) --partly as a fire break and also because many oak trees are brittle. we often have high winds (like this weekend) and find limbs down - but so far nothing flew into our ceilings! This story makes all your holiday decorating that much more special.

Connie said...

Kathy, I can't imagine how frightening this must have been for you. You are very fortunate to not have had anyone hurt during this. It must have been a very difficult time for you waiting to get the threatening trees removed and getting the damage repaired. An incident like that would make me feel afraid every time the wind blew, I think.

Eggs In My Pocket said...

What a hard thing to go through. I hope all is well and I hope you keep power going. You are in my prayers. Blessings, Kathleen

KathyB. said...

A.Joy, you should tell your storm story, yours is a tale of perfect timing !

Megan, I think flood are actually more destructive, but I am all for choosing high ground without trees looming overhead....now about earthquakes.....

Linda Sue, I have been in Louisiana and Texas during storms and you all have hail as big as soft balls. Balls of ice coming through windows and hitting cars can be pretty destructive!Smart not to have large trees near the home, we still have some, but I do miss all my trees. It was like living in a forest.

Daisy, this has been an ongoing lesson in trust...in God and His care. But He also has given us brains and so, after cutting down all the obviously dangerous trees, well, I need to put things into proper perspective when the winds pick up...but my heart beat does pick up at the sound of roaring winds.

Kathleen, thank-you! Things are well now, we have SNOW ! I love snow!