So here's the short of it, 
Remember those who have lost everything in the tornado.

 And here's the long.

No school today, so I had a day at home. Having the big oak down in the back has really changed the look of the place.  And now that I'm out and about, I'm seeing the damage all around the circle. Several neighbors have lost trees. It seems that no one has serious damage to their house as far as we know at this moment. Our neighbors across the circle lost their detached garage and carport to a large oak tree. Not as large as ours, but still a big old tree that's probably been around longer than me!  It had fallen all the way through the roof and smashed one of the walls. This afternoon, it finished crashing all the way through the garage.


The back is so different with the big tree gone. I'll bet we are going to be 10 or 15 degrees hotter in the summer with that big old tree gone! One of my friends said it's like losing an old friend - and she's right - it's been a good friend!

For now the tree is still right where it was.  The Electric Power board is responsible for removing enough of the tree to get the lines and poles back up. The city is responsible for removing the tree from the road. And the property owners are responsible for removing the tree from their own property! Because the tree had a double trunk and split when it fell, one of our neighbors is completely blocked in. the tree fell in a V right across the back of his driveway. Today he's borrowed a truck and is able to get out and about.

The transformer that fell is leaking something. The EPB came by and told the neighbor that the liquid is toxic and for us to keep children and pets away from it. It seems it may be a week or more before they are able to get electricity back on. We are pretty lucky that our electricity is on. Most of the circle is still in the dark. A couple of houses are running a generator to keep their refrigerators going, but the pizza delivery service is coming and going fairly frequently in the neighborhood. Mom's got electricity too, so her neighbors are borrowing her electricity for various things from making soup, to brushing teeth. 

Today the news from Ringgold and Apison continues to grow more and more sobering. We are so lucky here in Brainerd to have lost only trees and some minor property damage. Our neighboring communities have suffered such horrific losses. Here is a video taken by Trent Scott as the tornado moved through Ringgold.

For those of you who pray, remember the families who have lost everything including family members.