After the Storm

 After yesterday's wind it was wonderfully quiet this morning. High time to assess the damage from the storm. When I open the back door I see that it has started to rain again. Raindrops fall on the porch and turn the wood dark in color. I step back into the house to get my hat. The path squeaks when I walk over it.

As I look around, I see that in the meadow of the neighbors a tree has broken, but otherwise we got out of it quit well. Arriving at the end of the path lays the big tree that we had already noticed yesterday. Somehow we are glad that this tree has blown down. He had been bad, rotten for years, and whenever the wind blows you could see him balancing back and forth. We never had our ponies there when it was windy. We were far too afraid that one day it might fall, if one of our ponies was standing under it. It is very shady there in the summer. But now, that fear is over and he lies flat and fortunately has not caused any damage except for the fence.

The drizzly weather continues. Every now and then the sun seems to break through, but before I can put on my shoes, the rain is pouring down again. At noon we decide to brave the hard weather to go out with the dog. A farmer's meadow a little further up has also become very wet. The sheep wire just barely rises above the water. The water even runs over the road and has carved a whole track where it flows to the other side. We return refreshed and wet after the walk. The coats go straight to the stove and a little later the windows are fogged by the moisture.

When I look through the window a moment later, the snowflakes are whirling by. We got back just in time.