My Parents are Still Teaching Me New Stuff
The kids, Max and I are up at my parents' house for a while to visit. We finished up swim lessons and didn't sign up for the following session so there'd be nothing stopping us for a two week vacation. Monday morning we woke up to the sound of thunder and the flash of lightening practically simultaneous. Of course, Mom woke up to a huge crack followed by the brush of something on the side of the house. A few minutes later the air conditioners and fans died. We looked out the windows and saw half a tree leaning on the power lines. A few minutes later another crack resounded. Out in front a ancient maple tree split down the middle and fell to the ground. The storm quieted down. We called the power company to let them know what happened.
Apparently, 80 mph winds ripped through upper Illinois along with the rain and lightening. Besides the halved trees down, branches, both dead and alive, littered the acres surrounding my parents' farm. The Nintendo DS was fully charged, so the kids took turns playing on that when they were inside. Otherwise, it was clean up time. We got out the tractors and the wagon and got to work. I've never driven a lawn tractor so my parents taught me. See, never too old to learn. Oh, and I got to work on my farmer's tan, always a bonus. We managed to get the tree, that knocked pulled the power line and caused the power pole to lean precariously, picked up and onto the overwhelmingly high burn pile. The kids helped with their tractor and gator for a little while before returning inside.
Normally, power outages in town only affect your electricity. Well, on a farm where the pump to the well is controlled by electricity. . . Yeah, no running water for showers after working outside in 80 degree heat carry large and small pieces of wood. My brother lives in town so after working up a sweat we all headed in to take showers and eat dinner and watch the season premier of the Closer. Oh, and take in the food from the freezer. We returned out to the farm with no power still. We went to bed and around three o'clock, the fan started whirling in my and the kids' room. Yeah, power.
The kids, Max and I are up at my parents' house for a while to visit. We finished up swim lessons and didn't sign up for the following session so there'd be nothing stopping us for a two week vacation. Monday morning we woke up to the sound of thunder and the flash of lightening practically simultaneous. Of course, Mom woke up to a huge crack followed by the brush of something on the side of the house. A few minutes later the air conditioners and fans died. We looked out the windows and saw half a tree leaning on the power lines. A few minutes later another crack resounded. Out in front a ancient maple tree split down the middle and fell to the ground. The storm quieted down. We called the power company to let them know what happened.
Apparently, 80 mph winds ripped through upper Illinois along with the rain and lightening. Besides the halved trees down, branches, both dead and alive, littered the acres surrounding my parents' farm. The Nintendo DS was fully charged, so the kids took turns playing on that when they were inside. Otherwise, it was clean up time. We got out the tractors and the wagon and got to work. I've never driven a lawn tractor so my parents taught me. See, never too old to learn. Oh, and I got to work on my farmer's tan, always a bonus. We managed to get the tree, that knocked pulled the power line and caused the power pole to lean precariously, picked up and onto the overwhelmingly high burn pile. The kids helped with their tractor and gator for a little while before returning inside.
Normally, power outages in town only affect your electricity. Well, on a farm where the pump to the well is controlled by electricity. . . Yeah, no running water for showers after working outside in 80 degree heat carry large and small pieces of wood. My brother lives in town so after working up a sweat we all headed in to take showers and eat dinner and watch the season premier of the Closer. Oh, and take in the food from the freezer. We returned out to the farm with no power still. We went to bed and around three o'clock, the fan started whirling in my and the kids' room. Yeah, power.
posted by Amanda @ 7:37 AM
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