We had a pretty epic storm Friday night.  Maybe you heard about it?

I was reading in bed and heard the sound of really, really hard rain, and I began to worry about the chicks in the chicken tractor out front – I didn’t want them getting flooded out.  So, I went downstairs to see about getting a tarp or something and happened to glance out the front window, only to see there was no rain.  That pounding, howling, roaring sound was WIND.

Paul had run out to fold up the patio umbrella to keep it from flying away (didn’t matter, it flew anyway), and I ran to help him close the door on the back coop that had come open.  The wind was like a freight train, and above the deafening roar if it we could hear the cracking of trees all around us.  It occurred to us how lucky we were that all of the questionable trees around the house had already been removed. As we were making our way back into the house the WHEELBARROW blew into me.  That was when I started to panic.

Happily, after an hour or so of all of us huddled together in the downstairs hallway the storm passed on, leaving us with power and house intact.

Unfortunately, Juniper Moon Farm lost power, and our our friend Lisa lost power and had her 200 year old oak split and fall on her car.   She’s still negotiating with the power company to come out and remove the power line that is still draped across that mess.

The thing is, we all have wells with electric pumps.  No power equals no water.   We couldn’t let Susan be without water because the temperatures were expected to be up near 100 again, and the livestock would not have made it through the day.

Off went Paul with the big generator to hook up her well.

I couldn’t let Lisa suffer with no water or A/C either, not least because she has a 3 year old and is pregnant.

I stocked up on snacks and Susan took all of the now – thawing meat out of her freezer, packed it over to our house and met Lisa here for a chance to get some relief from the heat.  Caroline, Charlotte and Zac came along (Zac cooked an amazing meal!) as did their farm stay guests who we did not want to leave sweltering when relief was so close.

It wasn’t the happiest weekend for everyone, but we made the best of it and got to enjoy each other’s company and some great food. These impromptu gatherings are actually my favorite kind because you don’t have any lead-up time to fret over a planned party, and there are no expectations that things will be perfect.  We all pitched in to make the best of it for each other, and it made an otherwise terrible weekend rather nice.  Fortunately Juniper Moon Farm’s power came back on later that night, and Lisa has a place to stay with family until hers is sorted out.

This is what community is about; if you don’t have a connection to people near you that you can rely on and who can rely on you, I strongly suggest you make it a priority.  It makes life so much better, even during the tough times.  Especially during the tough times.