Aftermath

Looking back on Monday day feels like looking back on a completely different week. Monday night, after cleaning day and errands, our family spent FHE planting some new plants Mom bought to further fill in our little garden along the front path. While planting, we were worried that our daisies and zinnias wouldn't take to our clay-filled soil, but those woes were quickly overshadowed when at about 10:00, Colorado was hit with a massive storm, with our neighborhood at it's core. Within seconds, the cool, pleasant night turned to a tempestuous storm, with the strongest winds I've ever seen. Hail the size of ping-pong balls pelted trees, windows, cars, and plants. The power to 57,000 houses went out, plunging our street into darkness while the sky flashed blue, red, and white with lightning; the sound of the wind drowned out the thunder, though. The storm itself was pretty exciting, but the aftermath has been sad and frustrating. This storm turned our week from normal and comfortable to a week dealing with no electricity, mass amounts of debris, and sadness over massacred foliage.

Our driveway, I think. It's hard to tell.

This is a sampling of hail stones, held in my hand to exhibit the size of these destructive ice balls.

This is what happens to a car when it's windows are left down during a tremendous hail storm.

At least our flowers are still colorful. :(

Foolishly, I woke up expected the power to be back and everything to be just fine. I was very wrong. There was no power. There were, however, leaves everywhere, (except the trees from which they were blown, which now stand naked) holes in our house and shed, dents in our window frames, and sparse stalks where our flowers used to stand.

Those used to be pretty.

Yes, that is our insulation showing through the holes in the siding.

Would anyone like a souvenir piece of our shed? There are many to be had.

Unlike many of our neighbors, our windows all made it without breaking, but the frames will need repair and replacement.

Flowers or debris? Your guess is as good as mine.

I'm so grateful that our house sustained no water damage, unlike many nearby homes. It's sad to drive around and see the barren and broken trees and destroyed gardens. Grandma and Grandpa's backyard, which was once a sanctuary of beautiful trees, flowers, and bushes is bare and messy with debris. The plants will grow back eventually, but for now, our greatest frustration is that we are among the 116 homes that remain without power. Aside from our food going bad, I'm lamenting the loss of all the shows that could be recording on our t.v. I've been spending the night in Grandma's cozy basement because I: a) don't like getting around by flashlight, b) prefer to blow dry and straighten my hair before leaving for work, and c) enjoy warm showers, because our hot water went out yesterday too. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa were only out of power for a few hours, so the whole family has been filling their outlets with our phone chargers and computers. And they have wireless internet, which rocks. Xcel has promised power by 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, but I'm not getting my hopes up, seeing as yesterday they told us that our power would be up by 6:00 p.m. tonight, at the latest.

We got our yard cleaned up pretty well yesterday and we're all safe, so I shouldn't complain. Could be worse!

Good luck to all those in the area cleaning up their own messes!