If you live in the Southeast of this country, you are getting used to one storm after another marching in from the ocean and bringing wind and rain, resulting in flooding and destruction. The Gulf of Mexico is famous for churning and changing storm direction. Watch the forecaster’s map of possible directions, and you see chicken scratches in red on a field of blue.
It seems the news media has found a gold mine!
Recently, we experienced a “bomb cyclone,” and for some of us, it was mostly a non-event. But for others, it was like a bomb went off, and trees fell right and left. The atmospheric river (once called the Pineapple Express because it started in Hawaiian waters) drove rain like buckets suddenly dumped on innocents below. Power is still out for nearly 1/2 million customers.
One of our biggest problems is the beautiful evergreens we are known for. They do not have a deep root system and never lose their needles. They are like the catcher’s mitt from a speedily flung baseball. “Pow! Right in the kisser!” as Jackie Gleason used to say. A couple of winters back, we had several cottonwoods come down in the woods by our house. Cut ’em down, says someone. No. I love the woods! But we did remove some leaning out of the wall of trees trying to reach the sunshine.
Watch out! Another storm is due tomorrow!
That’s the cycle of the Pacific Northwest. As the warm water of the Pacific hits the cold air mass of the continent, we get storms! The mountains get snow, and the lowlands get rain, but we all get wind to some degree or another.
Here’s something I’ve learned after 21+ years in Washington. Get prepared. Stay prepared. In between storms, make sure everything is functioning correctly. That reminds me, I need to check on my newly secured barn doors.
Watch out! Another storm.
Life is replete with storms! Some are seasonal, and you prepare for them. Some come out of the blue…
We called them Blue Norther’s when I was young. We would crawl into the persimmon tree by the street and start riding the trees as the approaching storm blew in. The only rule? Come inside at the first hint of lightning!
Here’s my thought this morning: Sometimes, we ignore the warnings because our last experience wasn’t as bad as they said it would be. That was the storm we faced last week. After a couple of hours of wind, 50 flicks of power as branches flew and trees swayed in the wind, everything returned to normal. But another storm tomorrow, though not as severe as the last, may surprise the unwary. Trees are weakened from one storm, and it is easier to come down the next storm.
On the Spiritual Front? Storms happen all the time. They are seasonal. They brew in the mix of murky times. Eventually, they begin the march into our lives. Are you ready?
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