After the Storm

My husband and I had the merest taste last night of what some unfortunate folks have experienced over the last few days of storms. Our house shook and hail pounded the windows and roof as a vicious storm blew around us at 8:3o. The constant lightning illuminated trees which were swirling in the wind as we hunkered down on the first level in the center of the house. There was a constant rumble, but it did not sound like a screaming train. That was some relief, but it was still horrifying.  It ended just 10 minutes after it began. We stepped outside to see how bad the hail had been and were greeted with the heavy scent of cedar. There was at least an inch of hail on the ground. I knew it would be bad when we got a good look at daylight. 

When we went out to survey the damage this morning, it was apparent just how powerful the storm had been.  All our hard work in the yard was for nothing. The hail and wind tore everything to pieces. There are bits of leaves plastered to the house from the vegetation. Even the cedar apple rust fungi were torn from the cedar trees.  All but a few of the 132 heirloom tomato plants my husband has babied and had just gotten into the ground are gone.  But we're still here. Our house is still here. 

I absolutely mourn for those who lost everything in the storms earlier in the week around the Midwest and South.  If you magnify our fear by a hundred times, you have theirs. Then I think of what has happened to the people of Burma, and my mind cannot even begin to wrap itself around that catastrophe. If all this suffering is because of altered weather patterns because of global warming, then we are all in a world of hurt. The time for debate is long over. The time for all of us to take action is now.