30 Minutes in Nature's Mercy · 3:37am Apr 30th, 2023
At about midnight where I live, a thunderstorm hit. They're not unusual. Perhaps a little uncommon. But the weather had hinted at a storm brewing on the horizon. Each day there were a bevy of dark clouds looming overhead yet never raining. It rained once in all that time a month ago and a month after these unusual weather phenomena had started. It only rained briefly, and came with aen event we hadn't seen in three decades. Hail. And stranger yet, it was no ordinary hail either. Large hail, the size of softballs. It caused substantial damage to an unlucky few.
But we were, and perhaps still are, sitting in the eye of the storm. For last night proved it so.
In a few short minutes, not even an hour's time, the winds came. That's all it took. One big bad something to sweep our carefully constructed world away. It started with one strong gale. Nothing to fret except for a few errant construction signs toppled over. But then stronger and stronger it flew. 60, 70, 80, damn right near 90 miles per hour at its peak which it kept for 30 long minutes. 30 agonizing, excruciating minutes. It tore up electrical posts. Ripped trees from their roots. Stripped billboards of its signs. Ravaged homes. Upended lives... and took quite a few lives itself.
The aftermath scattered loving pets and wild song bird corpses all over, and we were left with the smell of death to linger with the fresh sinew of torn tree fibers. An earthly smell of dank muddied ground, timber, an ammonia.
But can you imagine how it felt to be inside the storm? To lie down deadly still within a room devoid of windows, feeling the crazy lunging, jerking, swaying, rocking and maddening strength of that all-powerful force? To hear the shrieks of the angered storm with its rolling thunder? Have you ever felt at a sudden mercy of something so horrifically terrifying, it turns your blood to ice as you contemplate the very advent of death? Your body becomes frozen stiff, and the ends of you like your hands and feet and nose become cold and numb while your heart races in your chest.
If you have, then you would understand. This is no story I'm telling. This is real.
I'm not kidding. This really did happen for real, and right now I'm creating this blog post in complete darkness. The electrical grid got severely damaged, so we're not expecting our power to be restored any time soon. This has been the most damage caused by nature in our area since Hurricane Katrina, and even then, it probably did more damage than Katrina ever did.
I was only a boy when that Hurricane hit. But even back then, I never felt in as much danger from its week-long rampage than I did with this one thunderstorm.
It's not something I've ever stated, but I live in an RV Trailer. So the rocking force of this wind could've easily knocked it over with me inside had luck not been at my side. By the time I noticed the winds had picked up, it was too late to seek safety elsewhere since just opening the door could've ripped the door off its hinges. Mixed in with the wind was rain and hail at midnight, so even traveling a few feet to my car could've been deadly. Electrical posts were scattered on the roads with all power to the area cut off, so the difficulty would've been near impossible to drive in considering this happened at midnight.
I, and many people other than myself, were at Nature's complete mercy for 30 long minutes. Any longer could've been the death of us, as it was for so many small animals. In a definition close to being "stuck in a metal death box", that was my experience. Thankfully, this thing was made of sterner stuff. It suffered little damages, even with an incredibly heavy tree trunk from a large tree falling on top of it. Took all of this morning to cut and clear the branches out for disposal.
I made one mass burial site for all the small birds that died near my area. May they return to earth, in what small gesture I can give to them.
You know, there's a saying about inviting catastrophe... can't remember it. But I feel its apt for something like this. I've been workshopping A Kindled End's catastrophe for a while now. Just kinda funny how fate works sometimes.
I may not wish for death and actively avoid it, but I gotta say, I'm not shaken up about this experience. Anyone else would've needed some therapy. But ever since Katrina, I've been a bit of a storm chaser. There's nothing quite as invigorating as the adrenaline you get by being humbled with Nature's ferocity firsthand.
I repeated to myself, "Let me die with dignity" in my head a few times at the worst of it. Just hoping I wouldn't be horrifically mangled so my family wouldn't be destroyed by the sight of me had the worst come to pass. It's in those moments you find your true character and sense of self. Turns out, my empathy is no mere show. And I'm a lot braver than I thought I was. Because despite the terror within me, I felt level-headed enough to take as many precautions as I could. Kinda proud, not gonna lie.
Well. Just thought I'd share a small, but very long 30 minutes of my life. Tired from the physical labor of cleaning up the fallen trees and branches, so it's high time I pass out now. Ciao!
Hope the rebuilding goes smoothly for you, I remember a time in my childhood, huddled under a mattress in a hallway, as a tornado tore directly through my hometown. There's nothing quite like the feeling of the invisible pressure, hearing your housd make noises you didnt even know it could, windows shattering, walls creaking. We were lucky and no trees/poles fell on our building, but neighbors werent so lucky. The cleanup really brought our town together again. Nothing like tragedy to foster unity.
Good to know you're alright, mate. Do take care
That explains the silence! I'm glad you all got through that wild storm safely!
When nature decides to unleash Tartarus... oh nelly, it doesn't hold back.
Be careful out there during the recovery!
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I apologize for not explaining much in my absence. Even before the high wind storm, I've been mighty busy. I talked about taking a haitus before from writing, wanting to wait until my stories were finished. But with life having gotten hectic for me, I silently took it ahead of time. The storm itself was only very recently, and repairs and rebuilding concluded a few days ago. But outside of my wallet hurting thanks to the storm, I've also been on a decline myself.
Just really worn down is all. Physically, emotionally, mentally. Which translates to exhaustion in everything I do. Even wanting to reply or picking up my writing again has been a task for me since I don't want give out empty promises.
But hey! I saw that you reached the final chapter of When It Snows, and I've been meaning to read it. I've had it on my FIMFiction: To do list for a while. I'll definitely give it a read over the weekend. And thank you, GJ. It's nice to know I was missed. Hope you're doing well too.
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I hope you get yourself re-energized, man! Dealing with that level of exhaustion is uniquely tough. I imagine your OC, Chrys, would be giving you hugs right now.
I look forward to seeing your thoughts on "When Life Gives You Snow...". I've been on a writing tear as of late, actually. Two new chapters of "Spring Surprises" are done and I'm working on another short story! That should give you plenty to read this weekend.