Amazing and Frightening Storm

Monday July 20th. Nothing special. Work, home, quick dinner, off to Spanish Class, home ... short chat with my wonderful honey, then off to bed for both of us. Curled up together, peacefully sleeping and the phone rang. "Hum", I thought, "who would be calling us at 10:27pm?" (clock work). It was our newly acquired "Weather Call" warning service - severe thunderstorm coming your way, lightening, hail, heavy rain and "damaging wind". The service calls when our address is in line with a notable storm. So I checked to make sure outdoor furniture in a good spot... lightening and thunder off in the distance. 10 minutes later...wind, thunder, lightening, rain....then the wind picked up, the thunder and lightening in earnest...then the tornado warning sirens...very loud...very loud wind...rain, hail....yikes it was very very scary! I asked Jack if we should go into the bathroom(our safe place). Turned on the TV.... some guy had just called in - thought he saw a funnel cloud 2 blocks from our house! Double Yikes.... strong wind and black outside. I was frightened. Jack stayed in bed, sleeping, not a worry in the world. Meanwhile the TV weather reporter is warning of the severity of the storm..."this is a powerful storm, do not go outside, stay in a protected area", after about 20 minutes the tornado warning was lifted, the storm...still very active had passed and was on its way east. I went to bed, but didn't fall asleep for quite a while.
In the morning ... 2 verified tornadoes touched down in the Denver area (neither near our home) wind and hail and rain had caused 100's of thousands of dollars of damage to property, cars, trees in the greater Denver area and 10's of thousands of people were out of power. It was a fierce storm. Fortunately no reported serious injuries or deaths...praising God for that! So, last night was the first time I was truly frightened by a storm here in Denver. Even when we knew that tornadoes were happening nearby previously...it was daytime...a storm of this magnitude in the dark of night was a whole different situation and very frightening for those of us who stayed awake through it, and where lightening before was entertaining, last night it was dangerous and very alarming. Winds topping out at 70 miles an hour roared toppling large trees, and denuding them of their greenery, smashing windows with the hail and debris. Some slept through the storm, some were awakened and were as frightened as I was...
OK here is the kicker. One of my lady friends at church...who, with her husband, slept through the storm...thinks we've almost had it all..."just need an earthquake" to round out this wild wild spring and summer! AN EARTHQUAKE!!! (She's originally from California)...so OK....but only a 1 or 2 on the scale please!

July 4th 2009

It has been a long time since I have blogged - so sorry for being neglectful. I admit that most of my time has been on....on....Facebook. It is a fun place and I can see photos of my family in VT.

But life still goes on and I do need to write more. Though I remember now why I stopped blogging. I had put a little "banner" on a page and it shows up on everything I do, and I don't know how to fix it. I can only type in "central" mode. Odd, but not insurmountable.

Today is Independance Day for the United States of America. We are an awesome country. I have watched people as they celebrate in their unique ways. We all have the liberties that have been given us by those who came before. Americans dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness gave their time, their expertise, their earnest efforts and their lives to not only secure the Independance of United States of America, but to keep it over the years. We are the United States of America, wonderfully diverse and working to become better, and I hope and pray our efforts are guided by the Divine Providence that led our founding Fathers in the establishment of this wonderful country under God. God Bless America!