I'll Huff and I'll Puff and I'll blow...

Into each life some rain must fall….and some hail and damaging winds.

Last week Mother Nature was placed on the most wanted list for terrorists in Colorado. Despite being on the “no-fly” list, she wreaked havoc in the Midwest just a few days later. I’m tellin’ ya, for being a Mom this lady has some harsh tactics and not a lot of love.

I’ve heard of PMS but this was over the top. Last time I saw the old bittie behave this way was in Fort Worth where one of her tantrums took out a sky scraper office building. But, last week she spent her wrath on a peaceful part of Northern Colorado near where I’ve relocated.

Windsor is a sleepy little town about 15 minutes southeast of Fort Collins. I’m not sure Fort Collins is large enough to have a “bedroom community” but perhaps it’s a trundle bed community for the Fort. Or maybe the bunk bed community for Fort Collins AND Greeley, in case these two college towns want to have a sleep over. I digress.

Last week Mother Nature unleashed a fury of hailstones on Windsor. As if that wasn’t enough, she set loose a mile-wide tornado to plow into the center of town. Some friends live a couple blocks from the destruction and took a little hail and debris damage. The neighborhood that got a direct hit was decimated. Even a building made from brick four layers thick was blown out.

We went into the neighborhood and parked near the Salvation Army, Biggins BBQ and one of the Red Cross groups. In the neighborhood, we found a bunch of people from a Mormon church coordinating efforts. The Red Cross had water, food, and other necessities. Hundreds of people dressed in light rainjackets, heavy leather gloves, and heavy boots blanketed the area picking up debris, trash, and what was left of people’s lives. Against the fence posts, all that was left of the fences sat stuffed animals, toys, and hanging on the fences were children’s clothes.

Some houses were down to one or two walls left. Others had one wall or half the roof blown away. A few were fortunate enough to have boarded windows where the glass was gone and a few bits of siding missing. Everything in the neighborhood was plastered with tiny bits of insulation as if it had been blown in to the whole neighborhood wet… it was. Vehicles that had been parked in the neighborhood had huge dents, no windows, insulation spray, and often the hoods blown off.

Despite the destruction, many houses were decorated with American flags to commemorate Memorial Day. One house had a large spray painted message saying “God Bless the Volunteers.” And other items such as boats said “Trash, take me.”

After a few hours of cleanup and helping people move/ pack / store what was left, we went back to our friend’s house to rest a bit. It seemed so cozy and safe. We played with their three month old boxer puppy and her mother. We visited. Then we went back to our own house of sticks to live like fat piggies hoping that wolf doesn’t come blowing at our door.