Brother Wind ...

In his Canticle, St. Francis wrote:

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather,
through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Yes, praise for Brother Wind, but sometimes he does make it hard.

We got hit with the second high wind storm in a week - this one with one gust that hit 81 mph. Trees, utility poles, and power lines came down, blocking roads and cutting power. Indeed, more than 130,000 in our immediate area lost power yesterday - many still don't have it. We went without power from around 3:30 yesterday afternoon until around 2 this morning, meaning the sump pump was out, and bailing was needed every hour and a half or so (tired arms and back this morning). Although the winds have died down, they are still strong enough to have officials worried about more trees and power lines coming down.

Meanwhile, temperatures are now dropping; by this weekend they are expected to be back in the 20s. Some poor folks without power will have to deal with that.

Many roads are still blocked, and a number of traffic lights a out. The stop signs just down the street from my house were knocked over. 

Schools are all closed (yay). That meant I could get to church. The church had no power, so the service was by candlelight (that was nice). But the church sign was torn away, and shingles were torn off the roof down to the wood. Some repairs will be needed to avoid water getting in.

A fellow teacher was there, and we wondered given the scale of the damage if there will even be school tomorrow.

Pease Lord, watch over all those who are hurting today because of Brother Wind.

Pax et bonum