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