the storm moved in.

The storm,s of life either make you stronger or rip you apart.bend like the Maple so you can live to fight the storm,s again...

All day the weather man said we were in for storm,s.the map showed we were in the red and under the gun again.we surely needed rain.cause we have been in a drought in this area of the country.we arent as bad as some.but the farmers need it for their crop,s.the corn is so sad where they do not have irrigation rig,s.the corn barely stand,s a foot or two high and is yellow as the sun.the ear,s look skinny and sick,and the leaves rolled and dry.we need all the rain we can get.

but for some it will not have come in time.not even close!!!the farmers will have a lien year again.the cow,s will have hay cause they have enough rain for that.but corn prices will be up cause there is a shortage.it will help some and kill others.hopefully they can hang on another year...

I sat in my chair watching the news and doing my journal.I felt I should call the kids and tell them to watch the weather in cause it got bad.they were going to be gone for a while.I called and got Anna on the phone and told her to watch the sky.she said they would be careful.they had taken their trip before school starts.

I sat and watched the weather channel as they showed the storm moving in.it was getting close to Anna,s so I prayed for protection on their place cause they were gone.I watched the storm clouds split and go around us.it only gave sweet rain no wind like they got in other places.no hail as big as a quarter.just sweet rain.
in the afternoon the eagle had been circling over town.I seen him two or three times in the day. it seemed he was in a hurry to find food and get some place safe long before the storm came.the eagle can set his wings and fly way above the storm.and stay there till it passes.but he headed south to his roost.to weather the storm. ..I stayed up late to be sure all the storms had moved through.and they said we would get more storm,s tomorrow.

today the west of us it is getting set up for more storm,s.we are in the red again.this time the red is much bigger and clovers more area then yesterday.so rain is on its way again.this time I pray it gets to those who need it.

I have been in a lot of storm,s.some mild spring rain and some that made your hair stand on end.I love thunderstorm,s. I have all my life.
when I was a kid on the farm I could not wait for them to come though.Id sit and watch them come .the day would start out sunny and warm,the breeze slow and mild.then to the west Id see the faint sign of clouds moving in .Id go out to the field west of the house, out beyond the tree,s and sit on the grass and watch them move closer.when they got almost to me Id head for the house or the barn if I could get away with it.

The barn was the best place to be for me.but not safe my mom and granny would say.what if a wind storm came?you would be trapped and we wouldnt know where.
but if I could Id sneek there and lay in the haymow and watch as the wind would come first blowing the smell of sweet rain in the air.
I would lay there all safe and warm with the fresh hay as a bed beneath me.I could see the clouds moving angerly along their way.the changing colors and the smell of hail in the cold air.I would see the low hanging white hail clouds .telling me before I could even smell it or feel the cold air rush in, that someone had got hail.

I would listen to the rumble of the thunder off in the distance and see the lighting flash across the sky.the birds would come into the top of the barn and hid under the eves.
the cow,s would be close to the barn or Dad or mom would put them in.and the cow,s would be uneasy cause they seemed to know the storm was coming long before the first thunder rumbled.how they knew I dont know.maybe the smell of rain in the breeze.

the pigeon,s would be making their cowing sound high above me.if they had young you could hear them trying to get the food their mom was giving them.the sparrow,s chirped and russel around and fought for their space in the rafter,s.the calves called for their milk in the calf pen.
I was enjoying my self so much I forgot one thing,the curly headed fun recking,sharp tonged screech bird that lived on our farm.soon I heard the cry in the distance.my name called and the E on the end echoed off the shed,s and barn and building most likely for mile,s everyone around knew my granny was looking for me.

so reluctantly I said I am in the barn can I stay pleeeeease!!!!!but "NO" came the sound .
you come now there is a storm coming you need to get in here NOW!!!

I slowly got up and made my way to the ladder and down through the barn by the cow,s.I petted the one by the alley.she was one I liked.her name was Bessy.she looked at me as if to say cant ya stay a while?but I told her I had to go in the house cause granny was calling.she licked my hand and seemed to be sad to see me go...

the calves said hey where is our milk your in here get us our milk!!!I said hold your horse,s its not even milking time yet.its only cloudy and dark cause it is going to rain..you will get your milk soon enough .

yes I talked to the animal,s around me.they were my friends.and I had heard a story from the bible my granny told me of the begining.and Eve talked to a snake..
well if she could hear the snake and talk to it and it could hear her.then why couldnt I talk to the animal,s "now "and they understand me?and so I did,and you know they did understand me.I loved them and they loved me.they knew Id never hurt them.and most of them would never hurt me.

but you know I think one of our cow,s belonged to the devil.she was a mean ugly four legged freak.she would rather kick ya then look at ya.and she would do it with a smile on her face to boot.I never did any thing to her or was ever mean in any way.but she hated me.

I was coming through the barn one day and she missed my head by a hair.I felt the power behind her kick but not the kick its self.
my Dad was so dang mad at her he went nut,s.he took the rope and a pully we had for some thing.and he roped her leg and through the rope over the barn cleaner bar over head and pulled her leg up so high I was afraid he would break it.and he tied it off.
I begged for him to let her down.but he said she needed to learn to stop before she killed someone.I felt like crying but he was right.

I went around and whispered for her to be good.so he would let her down.I could see she was sorry.maybe I scared her or some thing.I didnt make noise when I came in so maybe I just surprised her.any way Dad let her down after he cooled down.and she walked with a limp for a few day,s.and I told her I was sorry if I had scared her.she never kicked at me again.

I ended back in the house just before the rain came hard.I ran to my room and lay on my bed.granny asked if Id like a sandwich to hold me over for supper.I had peanut butter.I eat my sandwich and listened to the rain on the roof over my bed.my bed was nestled in under the eve and it was great for hearing the patter of rain drop,s.
my window was safe to be open cause it faced the east.and the rain usually didnt come in unless the wind changed.

I could hear mom and granny talking about supper,and the rain,things about the farm.just every day things women who care about one another share on a rainy day.
I could smell the rain and the lovely smells from the kitchen that would be our supper.I could hear the dog,s bark when some one came.most likely one of the farmers who could leave cause of the rain ,and have my Dad weld some thing for them.they didnt come in the house cause Dad was in the shop on rainy day,s.
working on our repair need,s.granny said it was someone but I didnt catch the name.

I was soon asleep and the storm and the day melted away.only to remain in my memorie.when I feel sad or lonely I can recall those day,s and go back to a innocent place and time.before the storm came and ripped away the lovely days of a farm girl and the place she called home.

today is another day and there is storm,s to the west of us.the weather man says some could be severe.so I sit and wait for it to get closer to see what will come.they said wind,s and hail.or what they call straight line wind,s.they call them some thing else but I dont know how to spell it.its like de-ray she -o (Derecho )they gave the spelling.or some thing.any way they are the pit,s!!!
in the 80,s they came through and flattened every thing in their way.for 300 miles they took down barn,s high line wires houses,shop,s.shed,s tree,s large and small.it was like all hell broke out.we all headed to the basement just in time.my Dad who was drunker the a skunk almost got killed running to the house to see if we were OK.he had been in the shop fixing some thing,or filling his face with booze was more like it.ehe was going to run back out, my step mom said stop him to me.I had to get up in his face and tell him to get real and listen to the storm.if he went back out and got killed where would his wife and son be without him???

for the first time in his life he listened to me.I was shocked...good thing he stayed in cause just about the time he would have been on the way back to the shop the corn cribb went and all the tin roofing would have surely killed him or hurt him bad.

the sound of the wind was like nothing I ever heard before.and the barn that had stood for years unused and unfilled went down.the place where a young girl with a sprig of timothy grass in her mouth lay and dreamed lazy summer day,s away.saw the storm,s come rolling in.and made friends with three baby pigeon,s .the barn where she would lay and watch the star,s as mom and Dad milked.the barn where the calves and cow,s she loved stayed for year,s.the barn was gone but the memories still live on.

that storm took the tree,s down ,that were many year,s old.
some planted long before I was born.some that stood when the Indian,s walked this country.some my great grandpa planted when he moved here.the maple,s lost their top,s.but still stubbornly clung to life,and lived to grow even taller.the hard wood,s who refused to give in the unrelenting wind toppled over and were no more.

when we came out of the basement ,the farm as we knew it was gone.the old pieces of the past flattened in the wind.
my granny cry,ed,all of us felt like it.she said it looked like a war had been faught in the yard.
she went off in a daze saying "its all gone,its all gone.it will never be the same.

but years later after she was gone to be with Jesus, a tornado would take even more.but the tree she planted long before I was born in a place no one wanted it.
saved the house giving its life to do so.she had felt she should plant that mapel there just to the south /west of the corner of the house.
and when the tornado came that tree stood in its way.it sent the blunt of the storm up and over the house.it was like the hand of God pushing that wind away from the homestead and over to flatten the corn crib on the other side.

God warned my granny.he had her plant that tree on her watch.and she was rewarded for her obedience.by her family being saved, and their home damaged but not lost.they went on to rebuild and add on.and the home that granny loved would live to see another generation born to live there.the sixth.

many things have tired to rip apart the homestead my great great grandpa and grandma built.but the Lord protected it.and as long a there are God loving and fearing(respecting)people there it will stand.
the storm,s of life do not rip apart a tree that bends in the wind,s of life.it only causes it to become stronger,cause its root,s go deeper into the good earth to live to fight again.


All rights reserved by the writer. written Aug 13 2007.no part of this can be used..