the damage

what a storm.

snow... followed by fierce wind... followed by dramatic flooding. the wind storm was a bit frightening for us. we had some damage... lost an old apple tree... our chicken coop door.... and had many enormous branches come down. then when the flooding came we had a small river flowing down the hill... we called it the little yaquina. the pressure of all the flowing water caused areas in our road to split and collapse... and also burst a few water lines.... and broke a power line. we were out of power for about three days. i felt very lucky for the wood stove and a generator. we all stayed warm and cozy. we cooked on the wood stove and heated water on it. we burned many candles... played the board games above over and over... and i even got the face finished on eislee's christmas doll (i decided i was crazy to try and make it before christmas).

when we finally saw the news and all the horrible things that had been occurring all over oregon we felt very lucky that our damage and suffering was so minimal. i couldn't believe all of the horrible tragedies. there is one in particular that has been on my mind a lot. there was a young mother and her very young son  that drowned in a creek in albany. their car was swept into the creek (which had become somewhat of raging river) and they couldn't get out. now, i have to admit when i first heard about the story i thought "oh my, that's horrible" but i didn't really think about it. it hadn't hit home yet  i guess. last night i was listening to this song. "if i die young" by the band perry.... have you heard it? if not then you should click on my link and listen... it is really beautiful. anyway, i was listening to that song and suddenly it made me think of her. she was only 18 and her son was only 20 months. when i really thought about what she must have went through... probably frantically trying to save her baby. i realized that she had suffered one of my biggest fears. can you imagine being in that situation with your baby? i cried... a lot... and i listened to that song over and over. and today, today i feel lucky that we were so fortunate through this storm. that all of my babies were snug and safe. that the worst i had to suffer through was a short lack of power and a few fallen branches. and every time i listen to that song i feel so lucky.