Ike-Carumba!!

I was unaware how much wind it takes to shake the house. I can assure you that it takes a bunch, and a bunch is what we got.

During the day, yesterday, I was confounded as to what project I should begin working on, here on the farm. The weather man was threatening all kinds of things, from tornadic extremes to flash flooding, all coming from Mr. Ike as he was looming below us like a cat in the weeds. I, for one, thought we were too far inland to be affected too much from a hurricane. "Aww, we'll get some rain, maybe a bit of wind." Brother, was I wrong!

Anyway, I didn't know where to begin. I hated to get knee deep into something outside, just to get rained on and get all my tools wet. I needed to work on laying tile in the spare room, but we have chicks brooding in there. So, I did what any respectable man would do in this situation, I paced the floor. I don't sit well. I get antsy and fidgety. I tend to drive my wife nuts in times like this. "What should I do?" I shouldn't have asked her that.

She suggested, in her sweet, loving tone, that I mix some "mud" (that's construction lingo for "mortar") and lay those already cut, waiting to be put down for years, tile sitting in a back closet.

I did. I got out the mix and crunched up all the little clumps into a bucket that had been collecting moisture for ever, and mixed it up with water to FINALLY set those tiles. I get the feeling that every time I can't figure out what to do with my day, she has a list of things that need done. I don't ever have that list. I don't keep such a list. I am a man and I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants, thank you very much! God gives us wisdom in the voice of our wives.

I felt pretty good at having finally gotten to those tiles. In fact, I asked myself, just what took so long. Sad thing is, I didn't have an answer. Now they just need to sit for a couple of days, then I can grout (or weeks, or months, or years...).

I felt ambitious by now. I was looking for other odd jobs that I can conquer. Things to do on a rainy day that had not produced an ounce of rain yet. I sharpened some knives, cut a hole for the new cat house (why do you need a house for cats?), and even put in some time, outside, on the new chicken tractor.

I was watching the sky the whole time. We even joked about how calm it seemed, that it was just the "calm before the storm". Around 4:00 pm, it did look awfully dark on the horizon. The sky turned a grey that seemed to veil all light. Still, it had not rained much.

During dinner, we heard the radio sound the alarm for tornado warnings in Arkansas, just below us. Still, the weather radio never went off for us. Darker and darker the sky went. "This will pass us by without much fan fair," I'd thought.

That evening, I gave the girls their bath and got them ready for bed, as usual. My wife had finished making apple sauce and cleaning up and was ready to read the girls their bedtime stories. I came into the office to upload some pics onto the blog (which you see below), all was normal. We went to be around 11:00 pm without much talk of thought to ol' Ike.

I think it was around 2:00 am that I first heard the rain. It sounded like a million, no, billion drummers beating a march cadence on our metal roof. It was coming down hard! There was a point at which I thought the glass on our bedroom window might break. Around 4:30 am, I noticed the wind. The only way I can think to describe it is like being stuck behind a jet aircraft exhaust. It was a constant blast of air that shook the house. This is not to mention the gusts! I have no idea of wind speed, but it must have been nasty.

From that point on, I slept very little. All I could think of was how happy I had been to get the new metal roof on the barn and not have to worry about leaks again. Then I thought about the wind ripping it off the barn. I tend to worry like that, I need to quit that. It can't be healthy.

Still, the weather radio never went off, not until around 6:00 am to inform all of flash flooding. No tornadoes! I thought for sure we'd see those! I am thanking and praising God for His hand!

I got up to go assess the damage and see if I could find the chicken tractors and pieces of metal roofing. I have to admit that I was surprised to find no missing metal or chicken tractors. The tractors especially as they are PVC and light weight. I am confident of the squat design to prevent the wind from rolling them, but this was a different wind that we have not experienced before. By golly, they were still there and intact! Praise God! Now I am more confident in their design than before.

We lost electricity until about 8:00 am. We decided to fore go the showers and go to church anyway. I am glad we did, but I feel yucky and I need a shower. Until next time...