|

A view of the
trees on the back of the house.
In
talking with several of the old~timers, we were to learn that a tornado
had come through the neighborhood seven years prior to this one. The
first one struck the other end of the block |
I had been
horseback riding with my friend Sandy, and since Bruce was working late,
when we had finished riding, she invited me to join her and John for
dinner. As we sat down to eat, a thunderstorm kicked up, and it began to
rain heavily. It looked far worse in the distance, and I remember
thinking, that "Someone is getting a hell of a storm." |
I had no way of knowing that, "that someone" was us, until I
received a call from Bruce about 9:30 p.m. "Terrie," he said,
"I think you better come home. There's a tree on our house." I
was to learn after our brief conversation, that there were several trees
on our house. |

|
|

These photos were
taken a few hours into the clean-up project.
|
Bruce
had advised me to take the first road into the community, because the
second road was impassable, due to the downed trees and electric
lines. I had to park my car several houses away, and walk in the dark,
up, over, and through a jungle of trees and branches, to reach my
home.
|
When I arrived at
the side door, there was a tree laying across the entrance, and I was
only able to open the door just enough to squeeze inside. There was a
tree across the front door as well. Bruce had been out walking around
the neighborhood, accessing the damage, and making sure that everyone
was alright. |

|
|

The house
next door was cut in half by a tree that sliced though two
stories. Fortunately, no one was there at the time.
|
Bruce came back
to get me, and we continued to check out the neighborhood. Surprisingly,
the house next door to us, still had a light on inside, and from what we
could see in the dark, it didn't look all that bad. The next day
however, we would be surprised at we would find. And grateful that we
were so fortunate.
|
|
The following
day, the power was still out, and would remain out for the next twenty
-four hours. We were very fortunate to have so many wonderful friends to
help us with the clean up. John and Sandy Griffiths, Mike and Kay Arms,
John and Pat Berlin, and Rick Carrion. They all came with tools and
chainsaws, and in time, we were able to see our way though it all.
|

A view from
the side. Note the little car. A 1965 Classic Griffith. Before we began
the clean up, there were trees all around it, and surprisingly, the car
was unharmed.
|

John Griffiths and Mike Arms.
|

Another view of the Griffith. Fortunately, the sailboat was in the
water, as well.
|
|

Sandy
Griffiths and Mike Arms.
|
I'm sure that all
of you have heard of the saying, "Be careful what you wish
for." So true that is... four days before the tornado stuck,
I was walking around the yard with my sister-in-law, Patti, and I was
pointing out several trees that I would like to take down, to allow more
sunlight in to the yard. As it turned out, everyone of those trees came
down, as well as several others. The moral of the story..." Careful
what you wish for." |