Greenleaf Homestead: Just Strange

That's all I can say about it. Here we are in just in the beginning of March, and yet the heartland of our nation is reeling from a record outbreak of savage weather. The tales of destruction, loss, tragedy, courage, and survival are just heartbreaking. It's one of those times I wish I had the resources to do more than simply pray.

While Michigan was spared the worst of the weather, we have had some minor flooding and wind damage. Friday evening the large thunderstorms came through with an incredible lightning show even as the heavy rains morphed into snow. The winds were strong and gusty, taking down tree branches and powerlines, and driving snow in around the doorjamb. We were without power for about seven hours or so, not bad, considering.

As hard as one might try to prepare, it's the little things that can be a 'gotchya'. The power here went out about four am Saturday, and when I called in the outage the little electronic woman who lives in the phone said we wouldn't have power restored until sometime Tuesday. Ah well, no big deal, I'm prepared – the generator is ready. I had made sure it started easily, had fresh gas and oil, and had put the stabilizer in the gas before putting it away earlier in the winter. I also had a can or two of gas on hand to keep it going. So I snuggled back down in the blankets to try to get some sleep before daylight. Once it was light enough to see, I got out my little generator and started to hook it up to the house. I use a heavy cable to connect the generator output into my home system, and got it all uncoiled and fed through only to discover that the plug on the end did not fit! Apparently when a family member had borrowed the generator, the cable end didn't fit what he was working on, so he replaced it. Without. Telling. Me. And of course, when the generator and cable were returned, I never thought to try plugging it in, so.....mid-morning Saturday found me on my way to town for a replacement part, without a shower, without my tea, and with a house growing rapidly colder and a sump pump that wasn't working. (Did I mention we had heavy rains?)

As per my usual luck, the hardware store had sold out of the type of plug I needed. Now this is a small town hardware, so the owner was trying to help the half-awake, scruffy looking gal he found aimlessly wandering the electrical aisle. He asked what I needed it for, and seemed surprised that I had lost power. I was explaining how far out of town I lived, and that we seemed to lose power every time the wind sneezed, when a fellow poked his head around the corner and said “me too”! It was some good comic relief, and his level of scruffiness let me know I wasn't alone in my predicament. The owner's best advice was to send me down the street to the lumberyard. So off I went to the lumberyard where I plunked down fourteen dollars and came away with the right plug. Of course, with some sort of grand comedic timing, the power came back on as I pulled into the driveway. Not that I'm complaining, that's better than Tuesday!

The high winds continued on through Sunday morning, and the temperature dropped some more even as the stormy skies gave way to sunshine. I had not been into the spare bedroom for a couple of days, but this evening the sunset shone through and I noticed that the shades had not been closed. So I stepped into the room and began lowering the shade when all of a sudden there was a great commotion of panicked movement and fluttering-thumping-crying going on against the windowpane. I almost jerked the shade off the roller in my fright until I realized I was seeing wings and feathers. I stopped and stared and there, caught between the window and the plastic sheet I put up for winter, was a mourning dove. I realized then that there was a hole right in the middle of the plastic. The poor thing must have been tossed against the house during the windstorm, gone through the plastic, fallen to the windowsill, and been trapped. Fortunately my windows are double hung, so I was able to carefully pull down the top sash, reach through, and tear away the plastic until the bird was free. He quickly flew off to the pines in the fence row, making that characteristic whirring noise as he went, so I hope he's ok. The wind also took the plastic off two of the other windows, first time I've lost any during the winter. It's too late to attempt replacing it now so I'll just let it go, and continue thinking of ways to install storm windows for next winter.

It truly has been strange around here lately. I hope and pray these awful weather patterns change up, and we'll not see anymore killer tornadoes.

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you, my friends.