Adventures

We Skirted Away From the July Storm We Got This Christmas

Shelley

When I sat down here at my desk to write to you this morning, my thoughts whirled and then stalled. My mind keeps racing about the week that was. Was it July in December? Or was it a joke that we got a thunderstorm in December? I’m stunned at how this week was the opposite weather from the previous week. This morning, we’re right back at the below-freezing temps, but less snow than we had before.

What happened to the foot of snow we had, you ask? Well, that’s a stormy story. Grab a cup of whatever, and follow along.

Last week, when I wrote to you, I told you about the snowstorm we had and showed you how much snow we got in pictures. It was pretty. Little did I know that in less than one week, most of that snow would be gone and our quaint county where we live would make thunder/snowstorm history. Right along with Kentucky, only not quite as devastating. We had wind gusts in the high 60 mph range. Probably a tornado showed up too.

Here’s the sunset the night before the storm hit. See all the snow we had…and the deer tracks and bunny tracks. Perhaps the animals knew they needed to stock up on food?

The next morning, the field had disappeared. It was so warm, which made for the heavy fog to form. We carried Rudolph flashlights with us on our morning walk. It was so eerie. I imagined a bigfoot walking out of the fog and attacking us?!

The fog stayed around for a really long time. And the green grass began to appear as the snow melted.

Even the bunny was thinking, “Score me, that was one helluva short winter, it’s spring again!”

Then the winds picked up and started to blow the fog across the field. That melted more of the snow. By midday, the sun even came out.

In my last picture I took that afternoon, other than fog and wind, Mr. and I both thought, “This is one weird storm brewing.”

We’ve been ignoring the nightly news, so we didn’t listen to the local predictions. We live very close to the warning sirens anyhow – we’d get a warning to take cover. We knew that we were in the predicted path of the storm. We got prepared if we needed to take shelter in our basement. You know, flashlights, water, a place to go, etc. And we touched base with our daughters. They too were in the path of the storm. All was well.

So, we went to bed and fell fast asleep.

And both of us slept through most of the rain and thunder and lightning that hit at 9ish pm. In fact, we didn’t even know that had happened until the next morning. What did wake us up was at 1:30 am the wind was SO LOUD. It sounded like a never-ending train. We do have a train normally going by at that time, so we waited it out. It didn’t seem to stop. I heard more rain. So I got up and looked outside to see if the tea house was still there. It was. The wind whistled through the corner of our patio door. I didn’t want to open it to reset it for fear that the wind would tear it down.

I went back to bed and I prayed, and prayed, and prayed for it to stop and to keep us from harm’s way. Somehow I dozed off again. Meanwhile, the storm raged the neighboring town east of us.

Check out the stats of the storm from historical weather data. Look at the temps, the winds, and the gusts as the day went on and into the night/early am.

  • We walked around 7:30 am.
  • We slept through this time!
  • The next day the wind was still blowing.
  • Finally it slowed down some.

The wind was relentless. Was there any damage? Yes. Of course. Lots of trees went down. Do a google search on Stanley, WI, to see the major damage that happened. The power was out for many people for 24 hours. One of our rental properties lost a huge branch off of a dying oak tree. We really need to get that removed next year. ✅ Added to Mr.’s list.

Thankfully, when the branch fell it didn’t hit the septic system pipes, any vehicles, or the shed, or any personal belongings of the renters. Mr. cut the wood up and brought it home. We’ll use it to burn in our fireplace this winter. Good thing – have you seen your heating bill yet? Holy sh*t…! That’s almost as scary as the storm. Only, this will last longer. The cost of skyrocketing heat prices may last throughout the winter. Bundle up buttercup.

Somehow, the storm passed by our home without too much damage. Two neighbors across the road from us each lost a tree.

Before I could get a photo of the other neighbor’s large pine tree that fell between their home and the other neighbor’s home, they had already cut up the branches. They left the stump for removal later. But I did get a picture of the sun dog in the sky above one neighbor’s house as the sun broke through the clouds yesterday morning. The rainbow effect is a sign of more snow to come, which we did get yesterday morning. We’re not back to the foot of snow we had the weekend before.

I’m mighty thankful – we were very, very, very fortunate. The only damage we had in our yard was to our clothesline that Mr. built me 30 years ago. The lattice where my morning glories grow survived. The opposite side didn’t. I’m fascinated that the wind simply knocked it down and left it right there. Boom, down, and moved on without any other damage.

If you look in the upper right-hand corner of the picture, across the field in our niece’s yard, their jungle gym was flattened and their horse stall flipped over (can’t see that in the pictures, and I didn’t take a photo). Left all the contents neatly behind it as it rolled. Fortunately, the horse had been relocated for the winter months.

This wasn’t exactly fun like Christmas in July, but it was a July storm we got for Christmas. Frankly, I’d much rather skip that idea forevermore. I’m praying for the families that had their houses and business destroyed in these storms. No lives were lost. The small town of Stanley has come together and is helping those in need. The power has been restored, thanks to the brave energy workers. We’re ready to brace ourselves for what the rest of winter gifts us with.

But first…the holidays are here. There are no winter storms in the forecast. Thankfully, unlike last year, we’ll be together for Christmas. xoxo

From our family to yours, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “opposites.” Use the word “opposites” or write about things that are opposites. Have fun!

PS – I look forward to seeing you back here on the other side of Christmas! xoxo

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

35 thoughts on “We Skirted Away From the July Storm We Got This Christmas”

  1. Wow, I’m glad that your home has survived the crazy weather, Shelley! That’s crazy! It’s great that the widow maker tree didn’t damage your renter’s property too. Stay safe and warm guys and have a blessed Christmas!

    1. Thank you, John. Yes, it was crazy. I had to run an errand yesterday and as I drove down the road I saw so much damage. We were extremely lucky compared to many folks. The tree crews are mighty busy this week.
      You stay safe and warm too – and I hope the porch pirates have gone away!

        1. Glad you found the gloves! It is interesting how the simple task of delivering to the correct address can be so hard to execute – but it is the busiest time of year too. Hmm. Again, glad you got your gloves!

  2. Yes! The weather is nuts, and we had HUGE winds, too. Hit a gust of 79mph in a little town near us. It as so loud it kept waking me all night and I would fall back to sleep and have weird, crazy weather dreams. We didn’t lose power (probably because we had the generator ready to go — if we hadn’t, we would have…lol), but my brother’s home was out of power for three days. No joke when you have a well and septic. Just one of the reasons we moved to city water. Anywho, glad you didn’t have any more serious damage.

    Enjoy Christmas with your family! 🌲

    1. Hi Laurel, thank you, we’re glad we’re okay too. Wow – it sounds like you had the same storm. I like how you mention the weird weather dreams. I may have had the same thing.
      We have a generator. Not ready to use, though. It’s on the list though.
      We do have a well and septic. And this year there’s a special charge for it on our property tax bill. That’s new. I think?
      Enjoy your Christmas too – I hope it will involve family and good cheer! 🎄🥰☃

  3. I’m glad you came through this with relatively minor damage. Those storms are very scary. It always amazes me when a rain storm wipes out the snow. We often get those in January.

    Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!

    1. Thank you, Dan! I remember one storm where we got a lot of rain in February, on top of a foot of snow that was pretty solid on the ground. We ended up with it flooding our basement. We weren’t home. So that was fun. NOT. I hope you the storms avoid your area.
      We wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too! Enjoy your new streaming service :-)!

  4. What scary nutty weather. Their jungle gym was flattened? That’s amazing and not in a good way. I’m glad you’re safe and that it’s over now. Happy Holidays to you and yours– and may future storms miss you altogether.

    1. It was scary weather. So yeah, maybe not flattened, but laying flat on the ground? It’s going to take some effort to put it and the horse stall back in upright positions. My niece said they were in the basement and didn’t hear a thing. They did lose power for the night though and are thankful the house stayed on it’s foundation. Thank you – we’re glad we’re all okay too.
      Happy Holidays to you and yours too, Ally!

    1. Merry Christmas, John & Mary! Yes, we do, and one of our rental properties does too. We even have a special charge on our property taxes to prove it. Why are you curious?

        1. Gotcha – SS have their advantages and disadvantages (cyclic issues as in having to empty them and service them). We have city water/sewer systems in some of our apartments – they aren’t free of issues either. Tree roots are nasty predators.

  6. Wow, another reason I’m glad I live in California. We have wind and rain and can get floods but nothing like that! Great picture of the family. Very Merry Christmas to you all.

    1. Yes, there are benefits of not living in the snowbelt! Thank you, Janet, Merry Christmas to you and your family. I LOVE the matching jammies and your family! So sweet :-)!

  9. Wacky weather indeed Shelley. I am glad you are safe. Bonus firewood is always welcome. A merry Christmas to you and your family as well 🎄🎅❤

    1. Thank you, Brian. This winter is wacky, that’s for sure. Yes, bonus firewood is going to come in handy this year.
      Merry Christmas to you and yours too – I’m thankful for your blogging friendship! 🎄🎅🏻💖

  10. Mother Nature is on a tear this year Shelley – it’s like she is doling out a little bit of everything as she can’t make up her mind what to target first and how. This entire storm system was beyond terrible and you are lucky you are basically unscathed (at your place anyway). I can’t imagine that freight train noise that you and others describe … to hear it and anticipate the destruction is just incomprehensible and very scary to me. Thanks for the photos to go along with the “story”.

    1. She’s being quite nasty, that’s for sure. I hope to not see that kind of winter storm again. We’re supposed to get up to 5″ of snow tonight. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that all travelers are to their destinations before the storm arrives. My brother will have to go out in it in the morning again on Monday. 😢
      Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Stay safe and warm.

      1. Well not a “like’ for 5 inches of snow and we’ve been getting warnings for any people traveling tomorrow morning as it will be a wintry mix. Hopefully everyone started back early enough. You stay safe too Shelley.

        1. We got the expected snow/rain/freezing mix. No traffic issues that I heard of. Guess everyone got the memo and either stayed home or drove carefully! You stay safe too, Linda!!

          1. We’re a day behind you … it was quite sloppy Monday. I thought it had dried out a little Tuesday and I set out and got a block walked and came home – looks were deceiving, even at 33 degrees. Not clear enough to feel safe. Maybe Friday mid-day is the next opportunity.

          2. I hope you get some nice weather so you can walk one more time in 2021. It’s way too cold to do so here. Sigh. 2022 will be better!

          3. I was surprised to walk this morning as I hadn’t counted on it, but I am going to aim for a longer walk tomorrow, so I can leave 2021 with a round number for a final tally.

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