More Than A Rainstorm

Heavy rain fell all day Thursday. By late afternoon flood warnings were flashing across the television screen. By nightfall the wind had picked up; we heard today that there were gusts of more than 50 mph. After midnight our lights flickered. Ken was on his way home from work in New Hampshire, and I was waiting up for him. I felt like I was caught in a wind tunnel and worried we might lose power, though we never did. We got to bed late, and at 1:45 a.m there was a power surge that lit up the thermostat in our bedroom and shut clocks off all over the house. Fifteen minutes later there was a thunderous crash, and I was sure a tree had fallen on the house. I got up and walked from room to room, looking out windows but seeing nothing other than small branches sent airborne and tree tops waving for all they were worth. This morning we discovered the source of the thunderous crash ~ just a few feet from our power line the topmost portion of a pine tree was completely separated from the trunk~

Until last night, it was a really tall pine tree ~

We then walked a half mile down our road to find the stream over its banks ~

Water rushing under the bridge ~

And making its way to the river that feeds Merrymeeting Bay ~

Then we noticed that our neighbors just beyond the bridge lost their barn in the storm ~

Tonight we have neighbors who are still without power. Throughout southern Maine trees have taken out power lines, fallen on houses, and made roads impassable. Again we are reminded of the power that nature wields over our environment.