Monday, September 15, 2008

Fun Monday-Not so Much

This was supposed to be a Fun Monday post about things you collect and just can’t get rid of. I had big plans to show you my shoe closet and all of those old shoes I hoard long after they’re useful. You know, the worn out summer sandals that smell and should be tossed but stay. Or the sixteen pairs of flip flops I have in various states of disrepair. And the dress shoes that I never wear because they don’t fit well but I bought them at the time because I was desperate for (insert color here) pumps that matched a suit or dress. Yes, I was going to bare my soul, open my shoe closet and reveal it all in a soul cleansing effort to motivate myself to throw that mess away. And then Ike hit.

Ike? But you’re thinking Hula lives in Kentucky, right? She’s nowhere near the hurricane belt. Yes siree. You are correct, but apparently Ike decided to roll his bad a** across more than the gulf. As he curled around the Midwest he ran into a cold front in our neck of the woods yesterday morning and wreaked a little havoc on our end of the state with 70 mile an hour winds. There are trees broken or downed in just about every yard, and the lights went out for thousands of people, including the Hula-gen’s. Our electricity was off for about 24 hours. While we certainly aren’t struggling with anything like the good folks in Texas, we got a little more holy spirit than we expected yesterday morning. This is the view from Mama J.’s and Papa T.’s front porch. Hello!
The thirty year old pine tree that sits between their driveway and ours cracked near the bottom and fell with a glorious thud.
Thankfully, it barely missed their house and Papa T.’s old pick up truck. We couldn’t have laid it on the ground any more perfectly if we had tried. See.
We called a tree trimmer and asked him to come out right away, and after he picked himself up off the floor from laughter said he’d get to us as soon as possible. It’s looking like he might be here in time for Thanksgiving. We faired rather well compared to most. The big maple in our front yard, the one I desperately love, survived but lost a few limbs. The wind turned over our deck furniture, where just twelve hours before some twenty people ate grilled hamburgers and partied to eighties tunes.Eventually, the wind blew the table, chairs and umbrella into the yard, destroying our fourth patio umbrella in three years. That’s FOUR! FOUR stinkin' umbrellas in three years! For the love of Pete, someone please tell me who put a voodoo curse on our patio umbrellas. Two walnut trees sit near the deck, and those walnuts were flying off like missiles when the wind was blowing. More than once Hubby almost got whacked in the head while he was trying to deal with the downed tree downed cable line flying patio furniture mess. Now they’re just sitting there waiting for us to turn an ankle or two when walking in the yard. Our neighbors are dealing with their own messes, too. This tree sits….um it used to….near our side yard. It will have to go because the limb that fell ripped the heart right out of it. So dear folks, my shoes will have to wait another day. We have limbs to haul off, a tree to cut up and candles to collect. Oh, and I’ll have to work up the nerve to open the refrigerator to see how it faired. Don’t worry though. Those shoes aren’t going anywhere.

13 comments:

Rayne said...

Oh, no! This is so not good. I do admit I laughed a bit about your umbrella. We live in Nebraska. Big winds are quite common here, not to mention tornadoes. It took us awhile to catch on but now we never, ever, leave our umbrella out. We imagine some where out in the great plains is huge pile of umbrellas, like an elephant graveyard. You know what? I think we should have a Fun Monday theme where we show all of our shoes!

Tiggerlane said...

WOW! You know, we were SO LUCKY...here in Arkansas, the eyewall of Ike passed to our southeast, and we missed major damage by just a few miles. We are one of the few communities in the area that didn't lose power!

Looks like you are collecting limbs today!

Amy said...

I'm sorry all of that happened, Hula, but I am thankful that you and your family are safe.

God Bless,
Amy:)

Sauntering Soul said...

Yikes! I live in Atlanta and I remember about 13 years ago when the remnants of Hurricane Opal came through here and did tons of damage. Atlanta lost thousands of trees and I was without power for a week. You don't have to be right on the coast to get hit pretty hard by hurricanes.

My younger brother lives in Lexington, KY. I'll have to call him tonight and check on him.

Hang in there!

Woodlandmama said...

It's sad when a tree falls, I lost mine last mother's day but it too fell harmlessly across the driveway. It's a curse and a blessing.

A New England Life said...

My blogging friend in Kentucky still doesn't have her power back, but they do have a generator for their refrigerator. So glad you have yours, and minimal damage!

Here in New Hampshire it's just a beautiful breezy day with big puffy dark clouds zipping by. Tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same.

willowtree said...

Wow, that was close!!

storyteller said...

Oh my! Methinks this event definitely takes precedence over your shoe collection (but I bet MY shoe collection rivals yours just because)! I’m glad the damage is minimal. We occasionally get trees blown over in heavy winds here … and more than once I’ve seen a street totally blocked with cars crushed flat.
Hugs and blessings,

kitten said...

Bless your heart! I'm glad you are okay!

Gayle said...

Wow...I am so sorry you had to go through that. I guess I shouldn't complain about our cold weather, we are prepared for that. Obviously, winds like that you can't prepare for. I was surprised about calling a tree person, but then again, I guess there isn't like here where everyone owns a chainsaw (or three!). Oh, and I have a horrible shoe collection, too.

ChrisB said...

After seeing those photos I can see how lucky you were, but nevertheless not a pleasant experience. We'll see the shoes another time!

Kelley with Amy's Angels said...

Holy Hannah! You were lucky! I'm glad everything is OK.

Well, except for that darn patio umbrella. : )

Mia said...

who would have thought it? A gulf hurricane visiting us here in good old Kentucky?
We were "lights out" most of the day. Didn't stop me from going to Wal-Mart for lamp oil,pumpkin spice candles and oreos!!