Church Garlands Askew
We are becoming so numbed to the ‘wolf wolf’ predictions about the weather that we paid little heed to the promised “worst storm of winter” that the media were forecasting for Friday and Saturday. Various online sources alerted us to be prepared for ‘high winds’ with wind speeds forecast to meet or exceed locally defined warning criteria in the next 12 to 48 hours. (Typical values are sustained wind speeds of 40 mph or greater lasting for 1 hour or longer, or winds of 58 mph or greater for any duration.)
Somehow, that didn’t sound very dire. In fact, that’s more-or-less what we expect at this time of the year. So, we pretty much blew off advice to “finish the laundry, check your flashlight batteries, gas up your vehicle” that proliferated among FaceBook friends. It was business as usual at our place.
Picket Fence Down
We slept well Friday night – no waking up to the moaning and groaning of this old house which happens routinely in really BIG storms. Yesterday seemed breezier than usual, but no big deal. So, imagine our surprise when the power went out in the middle of the day! The PUD must have been right on top of it because everything was back up and running within an hour.
It still didn’t seem like all that much of a storm to us, but when we looked out our west windows late in the afternoon, we saw that the Christmas garlands on the church had begun to come down on their own. And, just south of the church, three sections of Bradley’s fence had given up and had laid themselves down to the east. YIKES!
This morning’s look at FaceBook was even scarier – lots of really serious damage out in Surfside, mostly caused by trees coming down or limbs snapping off. Even though we’ve been through far, far worse winter storms, this one caused havoc for many people. I am chagrinned that we pooh-poohed the warnings.
Right now I’m feeling the need to do a drive through the village like Eddie Freshley always did the morning after a storm. I hope that what we see from our windows is the worst of it in Oysterville.
Been at the beach in worse storms, but the wind really whistled aroud our old house Friday night and the rain pounded our South facing windows including the one behind our bed. Our Christmas lights were out when I got up yesterday and Amy demonstrated how they exploded in the night. I guess Mother Nature wants the lights put away. Dave’s job today now that the Seahawks are done for the weeken d. Last night, as I climbed the stairs the wind sounded like a freight train coming over the roof above my head. The dog snuggled tight at my neck under the covers.
Sydney, thanks for the update on the storm. We assume you will let us know of any further damage in the village. Glad to hear the power wasn’t out for too long. We will be coming up on Friday for the ODR meeting and to check on things up there. Stay well and safe.
Jean
Interesting to see how fast the power was restored when there was a Seahawks game at 1:30 PM! Fast response time 🙂
Good Point, April!