Homeschool Zoo Annex: And the living is easy

Friday, June 19, 2009

And the living is easy

Friday morning, June 19, 2009

I awoke at my leisure this morning at around 8. It felt good to be able to sleep until I was rested instead of forcing myself awake at 3:30 AM to get ready for work.

The sun is shining and I'm sure it will be unbearably hot today outside, but I still welcome this weather. Last week at this time, we were facing severe storms that did a lot of damage and knocked out the power from Friday afternoon until Sunday night. Some folks' power wasn't restored until Monday.

In our part of the country, we joke that tornado season runs from January to December, and that's almost true! We had one on December 18 a few years ago that came within a few hundred yards of the house we were living in. Tornadoes are odd storms in that respect. It did no damage to our house but it knocked a double wide trailer off its foundation just up the hill from us and completely destroyed several homes in our neighborhood. One woman was killed.

Our water company brought cases of bottled water around to everyone on the system because the tornado made a crack in the water tower that serves us, thus causing potential contamination. The power was out for only a day, though, because we lived less than a mile from a substation that was damaged, and they were quick to get it repaired and running again. It reminded me a bit of rv camping with my family at the time, since we had our food in coolers and were cooking on a camp stove until it was all up and running again.

Today, though, is more of what one thinks as typical spring weather in the South - hot, humid, cicadas singing in the trees, and a slight, warm breeze. The sun is shining brightly in a blue, cloudless sky.

Last night, I listened contentedly to crickets, tree frogs, and whippoorwills as they combined in a summertime evening symphony that lulled me to sleep.

I love living in the country.