A difference a year makes

Sorry folks it took so long for me to post here. I have been working through some things. I wanted to write, but not had the energy or focus to do it. Oddly, out of what appears to be nowhere, I had the urge to really write tonight.

Monday of last week, I stayed in town to help Mom with some yard work. We spent a few hours clearing the shrubbery along one fence line. Since my home was built on a treeless lot, it had been first time since we moved from her home that I done work like that. It was amazingly refreshing working with pruners, hacksaw and hedge clippers. Son helped also by clearing the cuttings from the driveway disposing in old metal trash can and larger pieces to curbside for pickup. Nearing the end as I helped him clear the heavier debris, I was suddenly reminded of the last time we were doing almost the same. That day was the one year anniversary of the Mother's Day Tornado 2008.

(click link below image for more pictures)

From Mother's Day 2008 Tornado

Flashbacks from that morning clouded my mind like the gloomy sky above. Being awakened by weather alert sirens...watching local new with live Doppler radar...hearing report of tornadic cell on path directly to us...losing power as I was leading my son to the nearest bathroom...pounding debris slamming against the house where son and my bedrooms were as I pulled son across his chest into the bathroom...waiting patiently for wind to calm as talked on cellphone to sister who lived not far away...in the darkened night, calmly waiting for dawn to access the impact...discovering the severed utility poles and enormous trees...utility lines strung haphazardly in front of property, fence to fence preventing exit...the days of clearing debris...return of utilities for semblance of previous living.

So many 'what-ifs' still plague my mind.
What if the tornado traveled a few hundred feet north of the path it took. We would not have received just the northern brunt of wind force but the entire destructive force.
What if my parents had not had the three tall pine trees removed years earlier? Would they have impaled the house as did others that were in the direct path of the twister?

I thank God the surviving the events of that day. Even though the past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster, I am grateful to have lived it.

Is my car jinxed? or is this pride payback?

This is not the post I planned for this weekend, so my "friend" who is expecting it, I'll write it soon. Hubby is consulting on it too.

Seems like this car has had the worst of luck. Originally purchased by my brother in '04, this '05 Accord was in a fender-bender in the ATL where the fault could not be determined. In this incident there was minor scrapes and scratches on the RIGHT FRONT FENDER. It was never repaired. When my brother was moving to NY, he sold the car to me in '07, at an excellent price I say (thanks bro). Parking is too costly up there.

Mother's Day '08, tornadic storms ripped through Central GA causing a utility pole to snap in my mother's yard and brought down wires and an ornamental tree onto this car. Since my insurance covers castrophic events damage, the adjusters agreed to paint the entire car for all the minor damage from flying debris, scratches from the cable wire from the left crossing the hood to the RIGHT FRONT side and the scratches and dents from tree fall in the back RIGHT side. I did not have the repairs done then because I wanted to have the front fender work done at the same time. Since we were in the midst of closing on house, the funds were not available.
Month after month I delayed having the repairs done because I wanted to be able to park the car in the garage when the work was complete. We hadn't completely cleared it from the move.

December '08, two days before Christmas, son and I were on the way home. Being aware of deer in this particular area, I was driving more cautiously. What seemed like seconds stretched into minutes, a deer hopped out of the woods to my left, crossed in front of my car. Seeing it, I slowed but not quick enough. I hit its tail end with the RIGHT FRONT FENDER on the car, dramatically intensifying the existing damage.

At the end of last month, hubby encouraged that we get the car repaired while he is on night shift. We can save on car rental costs by me driving his car during the day. The work started Feb 2nd and was finished on Feb 18th. Earlier this week I took the car back to the collision center because a piece of trim on the hood came loose and won't snap back in place. I am still waiting to hear back from them on that matter.

This morning Feb 28th, in a effort to combine trips, hubby, son and I left to run errands together using my car. Albeit it is the car that just had a complete body paint job with a replaced hood and FRONT RIGHT fender. Normally I would have gone by myself to get groceries, but because of expected weather tomorrow, I suggested we get the small propane tanks, for fireplace, filled in case of ice-downed power lines. Our house is total electric. Since Ace Hardware is next to the Ingles grocery store, we all went together.
Hubby dropped me off at the grocery store and then continued on to the hardware store. Before I completely retrieved the items on my list, hubby and son arrived with the news. While turning out of a gated area to get to the propane filling area, he hit one of those yellow painted steel posts that are used to protect areas from cars. As you can see from the pictures above, they worked.

Is the FRONT RIGHT FENDER of my car is jinxed?
Is this karma for not having to pay for the original damage to the car?

Now I wonder because Monday, hubby starts back on day shift we now have to pay a portion of the rental car fee and there will be payment for the insurance deductible.

What do you think, Karma or just bad luck?

shaken and stirred

Awakened by alert sirens, some were not. Some took precautions, some ignored and returned to sleep. "It's just another warning" will not be spoken anytime soon in this city. "It's a blesssing!" is heard in every conversation.

Walking through the streets people conveyed emotions of thankfulness and joy for no loss of life, or even physical injuries. Wondered in amazement as to the amount of devastation in a matter of seconds. As time progressed, the brevity of the situation loomed. No electricity, no phone landlines, wireless services sporatically limited, and roads block with utility poles, transformers, streetlights, trees, and branches. Instead of panic, a calmness occurred. Neighborhood livened in the midst nature's death all around. Folks who had not been seen in years were re-acquaintenced.

Days passed, power restored, then land phone lines, and finally cable/internet. Some may think the emotional toil would decrease, but the opposite occurred for me. As information was gathered as how this part of the city was torn apart, a queasiness settled in my core. As I ventured through the affected areas this feeling tumbled constantly in the pit of my stomach.
It was not until I had several discussions with co-workers who shared the same feelings that I began to understand. It was torment; not for the homes destroyed, automobiles crushed, buildings bruised, but for the loss of life in nature. Streets once tree-lined are now edged with piles of splintered trunks, stalks, and branches.

We are connected to all living things in our environment. The drastic loss of life of the trees has greatly affected many of us. Unfamiliar skylines disrupt driving routines. On several occasions I second-guessed my whereabouts while driving normal route to work. I know in time mental adjustments will be made to the new landscapes, homes will be repaired, and replacement cars purchased. Unfortunately, generations will have to pass before our streets will be shaded by nature's limbs.
This Libran was shaken and stirred, but my golden scale will be balanced again.

Here are some pics from daybreak that Sunday morning through the continuing cleanup.