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Friday, June 06, 2008

Thursday Evening

It was supposed to be the storm of three decades. National News predicting 20+ tornadoes in our area. Hail the size of softballs had already been dropped to our west.

My husband arrived home. I told him we had a window slamming problem, as the roll out window in our master bathroom had managed to unhook itself, and the wind, the was gusting only to about 45mph, was lifting it and slamming it down. As he stood on his make shift pedestal, reattaching what had come undone, I asked him if we should be worried about the calf. I informed him of all the hail. He grumbled something at me, not really answering. I took that as a don't fret and went inside to make dinner before we lost power.

A few minutes past and my husband came flying into the house. The sky had already began to spit. Where is the calf? he asked in desperation. "She's with Edie." NO!. "Where's my boots!" I yelled at the kids. Someone had moved them, and I was feeling a little to desperate. I didn't take the time to pull on and tie my combat boots. Instead I slipped on a pair of winter hunting boots. Ones that hadn't seen shoelaces in years. I flew out the door as fast as the over sized shoes would allow me.

I ran straight out into the field, and there, behind the manure laid the calf. I tried to pick her up, yelling at my husband. Something is wrong with my wrists, and I was unable to grip her. My husband scooped her up, and for some reason I glanced behind me. A wall of water, a torrential down pour that obscure everything it covered was moving through our field. "RUN!" I screamed. My husband and I ran as fast as we could into the barn, a calf in his arms. We weren't fast enough, and we were wet through an' through before stepping foot into the barn. The wind was blowing so hard, that there was little place to hide in the barn. All the goats were huddled together, adult cows running around. "Gates open" I told my husband. "Windows open" he informed me.

We braved the rain, Edie running into the goat pen looking for her calf, calf in the other side of the barn, my husband ran to shut the back gate as I made my way to the house.

My boots were impeding my movements. I shed them at the front gate, scooped them up and ran barefoot as fast as I could to the house, only to find that my children had shut the house down. Shortly after I made it into the house, my husband followed. We grabbed towels, and changed clothing. My husband's head, where that cowboy hat sits, was the only thing dry.

We hunkered down, listen to the wind and the rain. "I asked you before the rain started about the calf." I think I remember you saying something "So the hail was something to worry about with her?" Yep, it would have been like chasing her around and hitting her with a hammer. We turned the news on, a tornado had popped up south of us. No hail emerged on our farm.

It turned out not to be the worst storm we had seen in 30 plus years. Only 4 tornadoes instead of over 20. But it was the hardest I have ran since high school track.

10 comments:

lisa said...

Scary! I bet the animals were very relieved when it was over!

Tim Appleton (Applehead) said...

That is one of your best written posts in a long time. Maybe it's because I have been there done that, maybe its because you're just that good.

Anonymous said...

Weather is fun isn't it? We were woken up at 4;30 with a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder so close we thought it hit our barn! Hard to go back to sleep after that one!

Glad you got the calf in in time.

Gina said...

I heard on the news about Kansas and the storms and thought of you and your family. Glad everyone is safe!!

it's been a scary weather year here in the Midwest...

Country Girl said...

Quite a story, glad to here you are all ok! ~Kim

Anita said...

Great writing... glad things were ok...

We got the hail, and the rain and wind, but we don't have as much to lose from it as you do... It wasn't our biggest storm this year, either... and obviously not the worst in many years... I do believe last May's storm blows any other out of the running...

Phelan said...

Lisa, I think we all were.

Tim, I think it is my mood. I haven't felt like writting in awhile.

mommymommyland, ugh, I wish it wasn't this fun. A few days ago we had one of those lightening stricks that we thought had struck something on our land. Not a good feeling.

Gina, I was surprised it was making the national news. They made it sound like the end of the world and it turned out to be a normal storm, at least a typical Kansas storm.

Country girl, thank you.

Ania, yep I would say last year was worse. I have been through a lot worse then what happened the other night. I too have been through an F5, though we were luckier then you guys.

Matt J said...

It's nice to meet you, Phelan. What an exciting story! It's times like those that make life such an amazing experience.

Dancingfarmer said...

Those babies! I have braved wild storms to bring lambs in many a time while their mother called and called from the safety of the barn.
Glad your safe...and your calf.
Monica

BurdockBoy said...

Wow what a scare. I'm glad everything worked out okay. Hopefully you'll steer clear of the severe weather that keeps hitting back there for the rest of the year.

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