Destruction...with Restoration...

If y’all have been reading our blog in the past couple of years, you know we’ve been smack-dab-in-the-middle of a devastating drought. I've talked about our “tanks” (The word “ponds” could be substituted for this “country” term.) in the past. See my post on December 17, 2011, entitled “Duck…Duck…” My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I have two tanks on our property. See “when it rains…" posted on Monday, August 11, 2014 for more about our tanks. Our Front Tank has been completely, totally, and, in our minds, hopelessly bone dry for several years. Our Big Tank (aka Catfish Tank) has become smaller and smaller and, in the past several months, been virtually gone. There are still about 40 catfish in the water that’s left. I’ve not been able to allow myself to think about their possible and permanent demise. We have lost many, many big ones.  

In the past couple of months, however, we’ve received a few inches of much-appreciated rain. It’s raised the level of our Big Tank a few feet, making, we believe, said catfish beyond HAPPY! Then, this past Saturday evening, we had a weather event that changed everything for us folks in this part of Texas.

A Teensy Bit of Background: MSH and I were lucky enough to entertain Little Leighton (LL) last Thursday and Friday. We had tons o’ fun playing—mostly inside our home, as the weather was overcast and misty/drippy. We were to meet TLC in Ft. Worth to “return” TLC on Saturday around 4:00 p.m. We’d been told, by our local weathermen and weatherwomen, all last week, we should receive rain on Saturday and Sunday. What we didn’t know, however, was how right they were (finally) going to be and how scary it would become.

Mid-Saturday morn, the rain began. If it was raining at our casa, it wasn’t at TLC’s. Then it would switch. It’d be clear-ish here but raining like cats and dogs at TLC’s home.  The three of us—MSH, TLC and I—all started receiving weather alerts/severe thunderstorm and tornado “watches” and “warnings” on our cellphones. Close to noon, it seemed like we were going to be unable to get LL safely to her Mama. While LL napped, MSH continued to consult his radar apps on his iPad and made a big decision: We should both (us and TLC) have a 2-hour window of safety—if we met by 3:00 p.m.—and could get LL into her Mama’s waiting arms. We made the decision to wake LL up, after only an hour (she normally naps for two) of sleep, and head West. TLC headed East.

We did "The LL Transfer” at approximately 3:03 p.m. in the shopping center parking lot we use as our halfway meeting spot. All four of us were back, safe and sound, in our homes by 4:10 p.m.

All heck broke loose—for us—around 6:30. At our country casa. Our cellphones could barely keep up with all of the tornado watch and warning alerts they were receiving. Kit, our family hairstylist and dear, dear friend, sent me a message around that time, asking if I knew there was a tornado being reported less than 7-ish miles from our home. That meant it was very, very close to her country casa. MSH’s monitoring/tornado chasing began at that exact moment. He spent the next almost two hours outside on the northwest edge of our property—or on our front porch. I got comfy in our “Safe Room.” (This is a small room literally designed and built to help protect you in a tornado. Or from home invasions. Our builder used the specifications set out by the Smart Peeps who study tornados and their damage at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.) In the fifteen years we’ve lived in our home, I’ve been in the Safe Room, for weather issues, many times. Probably 30-ish times. MSH is typically in and out of said room—drawn to the scary weather activity he wants to experience up close and personal. Yes. That makes me cRaZy. I have, however, decided, at 71, he’s old enough to take these silly risks he wants to take and hollering at him doesn’t get me anywhere but stressed. Sigh.

He took some cellphone videos of a tornado that we believe was eventually right over the top of our home. (TLC has tried, unsuccessfully, to post videos to this blog and hasn’t been able to figure out what she’s doing wrong. I so wish y’all could see what MSH recorded. Hopefully, TLC, My Techie Diva, will learn soon what she’s doing wrong and correct it. I’ve wanted us to do a “vlog” forever.)

By 10:30 Saturday night many things had happened:

We’d received lots of hail (mostly pea-sized) and high winds.

TLC and I had said, at least fifty times, each, how grateful we were that we’d delivered LL to her safely and that she was not at our casa, going through Grammy and Pa-Pa's weather trauma/drama .

TLC and I had sent a minimum of 75 texts back and forth to each other in about two hours.

We’d lost our electricity at about 9:40 p.m. It came back on two hours later. I don’t like losing electricity. See my post entitled “ELC…Unplugged…” on Saturday, July 12, 2014.

Buddy Bear, the Brown Lab, had literally worn himself out shaking in utter fear. (We MUST get him some anxiety meds—ASAP.)

There was too much damage—in too many Texas towns—Saturday night. And, unfortunately, again Sunday. There’s been flooding around Texas. Deaths. Homes and businesses destroyed by tornados and high winds. The damage MSH and I received included some broken pots and tiles, a tiny bit of leaking—under a door in our bedroom and in a bathroom at our Barn apartment,and downed trees (several). Also, around 40% of our new road washed away. Along with the money we paid for it. Sheesh. Nothing major. For that we are quite grateful.

The good news? WE GOT RAIN. Heavenly, lovely, FABULOUS rain. Our tanks are not only full—they’re overflowing!

In the midst of chaos, destruction and fear, we witnessed restoration. God’s Beautiful and Amazing Grace.

God is still in the process of His Blessed Restoration, as we’ve had another day of rain! You will not hear me say: Enough is enough! Nope, all you’ll hear me say is:

THANK YOU and…

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!