Besides the compilation post below, blogging is being pushed aside by other priorities today; namely, getting out the latest LifeSharer letter for Vital Signs Ministries, preparing the Power Point pictures for our second "When Swing Was King" presentation at the nursing homes, and dealing with the fallout (quite literally) from last night's windstorm.As these pictures show, the major portion of our big tree in the backyard came down in the storm. Fortunately, the winds, which were recorded at over 70 mph in Elkhorn (not far from here), were from the west. That meant the tree didn't fall on the house.
But it did mean (I'm so sorry, neighbors) that it fell on the power line. The sparks and subsequent explosion from the transformer were as dramatic as any of last week's fireworks but the result was a power failure for our whole block. Other lines were damaged throughout the city too. Over 32,000 homes were without power at one point in the evening -- from what we heard a little while ago, some still are.
We were without electricity for only 8 or 9 hours -- not a big deal, but it was a little tough for sleeping in the heat and uncertainty. The crew from OPPD arrived a bit after 2:30 AM and I was pleased I was awake to watch them skillfully manipulate the high cutting poles to free the power line. Pretty cool. The tree was still on two other lines (cable and phone, we eventually learned) but because the crew was understandably in emergency mode, they booked on out.About an hour later, a second crew used a cherry-picker to replace the transformer and our block was back to normal. At least that's what I hope. If our tree took out our neighbors' cable TV lines, we may never be elected block captains!
Joel Kayser from Well Rooted Gardens will be taking the tree down and away tomorrow. Joel has done great work for us in the past and we were blessed to get into his schedule so quickly. We were, of course, also blessed to escape serious damage this time around and to appreciate the timeless message of hope beyond this world that was represented by the gorgeous double rainbow that appears in some of these photos.
