What Storm will it be?

When there are dark clouds in sight

I sit still and hold on tight 

Deep down inside I know there is going to be a storm

So I just wait and wait 

    What kind of storm will it be? Will it be full of wind, the kind that blows so hard It sounds like its crying? Or will it be the kind of wind that howls so loud you can feel in your bones?  One night in March of 2010 the wind was so powerful that it blew out transformers, took out electrical lines and blew down trees  like dominos.  It was one of those storms you buckled up and waited it out. I was siting in my living room with my family watching tv all snuggled in on our couch when the phone rang. It was my mother screaming that a tree had fallen on the house and wanted my husband to go there. I was confused "what do you mean a tree fell on the house" I asked.  She said please a tree fell and she was in a panic. I turned to my husband and asked him to set out on a dark and stormy night to investigate the situation.  

    My mother lived with her sister across town. She moved in two years prior and we moved into my childhood home. My aunt had a one bedroom in the back of the her house which she rented to a nice couple.  The couple were semi retired and were looking to move out of state, they needed something temporary until they were both retired. They had bought a house in Pennsylvania and would go there on the weekends.  The night of March 13 2010 they had decided to go and visit their house. The man had told my Aunt they hadn’t plan to go but at the last minute got in the car and left before the storm. Something told him to leave.  Lucky for them they did. That night the wind blew a tree down onto my Aunt’s house and destroyed the back room.  Thank God they weren’t there , they would have been crushed. The man after words told my aunt that my grandmother had saved his life even though he never knew her. Something beyond us gave them the intuition to leave my Aunts house that night which  saved them. The wind may have destroyed a house, but faith was restored with the gift of life. 

The clouds are getting thicker and thicker

The flakes are getting bigger and bigger

So we just wait and wait

    Sometimes a storm comes in and the world around you becomes silent. Everyone shops for food the day before and prepares themselves for hibernation until the storm passes. The TV gets everyone in a panic, have to go buy food, batteries, flashlights anything but the kitchen sink. I of course fall into the trap, run around the stores looking for milk, eggs, flour and snacks. You can't face a storm without snacks in the house. My mother would always say as long as you have eggs and flour you'll make it through the storm.  She would forget that not everyone is a baker. She would make bread on a whim, and it would be amazing. While the kids would go out and play in the snow and my husband would try and dig us out, I would stay in the house and try to whip up something to eat.  My favorite soup is beef. Everyone loves chicken soup, I hate the cooking chicken. Yes I probably am the only one in America that would rather cook beef soup than chicken.  I just don't like cooking chicken, so afraid of under cooking it I end up burning it. Nothing like beef soup on a blizzard day. Love the smell of soup that fills a cold house. It makes the cold go away and brings warmth to the house. Blizzards are a great way to stop and enjoy family time.  I often look out the window to see the beautiful white snow cover our back yard. One year I noticed the fig tree all covered with snow. My father had planted the tree when we first moved into the house.  It has survived storm after storm.  My husband used to cover the tree but as time went on he just stopped.  The fig tree gets blown down, frozen at times but in the spring it comes to life. One year we thought it was dead so my husband cut it down to the trunk and the next year it came back.  The tree has survived year after year.  I often think my Dad keeps it alive, so that when we pick the figs and eat them, he will always be remembered.  

Storms, you never know what damage they will bring

You just hold on tight and hope that your loved ones are safe.

You hold on and hope that everything that gets lost will be found.

You hold on and just wait it out.