Changing Diapers by Candlelight

I've previously written about how much I enjoy thunderstorms.  This remains true, but I feel like a higher power has been testing me for the last two days, or maybe I can just blame my roommate from freshman year.  He is in town and also commented on how great storms are...

Two nights ago, in the middle of the night, a crash of thunder shook the house (and my bed in it); it woke me up.  The sound of the wind rattling the siding kept me up.  I almost grabbed Grayson and headed down to the basement.  Almost.  But it was 3:30 a.m. and I had stayed up later than I had planned the night before.  I figured if the storm didn't wake Grayson, it couldn't be too bad.  The fact, though, that the thought crossed my mind told me just how crazy that storm was.

Last night was worse.  At least it happened in the evening, but last night's storm was violent!  The
 winds were gusting; Stacy said our patio door bowed a bit.  We lost a shrub; it is just disintegrated.  Of course we lost power and the Internet.  (I'm using this as an excuse for why my entry is a bit late.)  The scariest part of it for me, though, was being out and about in the storm without my phone.  This blog post was supposed to be about my phone; I guess that will be tonight.

I had just dropped off a tool I borrowed at my mom's house, and I was heading to the grocery store for some necessities when the skies opened up.  I ran into the store, the right half of my body drenched from the driven rain.  I made my purchases, and I stood by the door hoping the storm would let up in a minute or two.  It didn't.  And I had a wife and child at home (a dog too) whom I knew were worried about me.  I decided I couldn't wait any longer, so I made a mad dash for my car.  It was as if God was aiming a fire hose at me while I ran through a pond.  The water in the parking lot already covered my feet.

The grocery store is about 1.5 miles from my house.  It took me 10 minutes to get home.  There were construction cones blowing around, almost floating at you.  Stoplights were out.  Puddles were deep.  Tree limbs were down.  At one point, I drove a slalom course of tree debris up a hill.  All of this in a driving rain that my windshield wipers couldn't keep up with.  It was a fun drive.

I got home to candles glowing, soaked to the bone from just two brief moments outside.  I was super glad to see Stacy, to reassure her that I was okay.   No power.  Cellular data was able to keep us connected, so we knew that power was out almost everywhere in the Twin Cities.  After securing the house, making sure that we weren't taking in water, we entertained Grayson in the twilight and candlelight.  He was all smiles and giggles, having no idea how violent the storm was that just rolled through. 

Today the city will wake up and assess the damage.  I hope the families with cars at the Back to the Fifties show are all safe, that their cars are okay.  I hope we are done with storms for a little while now...