A fierce windstorm and possible tornado tore through our town last night, flattening dozens of big old trees and knocking power out to much of the town, and to our farm. The cable went out just as our Bingo Night was concluding at the Mansion and we came home to sit on the porch and were quickly driven inside by howling winds and rain, clocked at 90 miles per hour in some parts of the area. It sounded like a tornado was roaring over the hills, and we think that might have been what it was.
Trees fell all over houses in town, and the power is till out in many outlying areas. Anyway, the blog is back up, I get nervous when I can’t write. We had the most wonderful day anyway, the refugee soccer team showed up with Ali and their new van, we had lunch at the Round House, then went to see Ed Gulley – it was the kids idea – and their connection to Ed and Carol and their farm was immensely powerful.
The team came to the farm and gave some carrots to the donkeys and watched Red work.
I have some catching up to do on the blog, I’ll spread it out over tonight and tomorrow. After bingo, I helped Jean and Joan to their rooms and went to say goodnight to Madeline, who was sitting in the lounge along, watching TV as she does every night. From dinner on, the Mansion is s quiet place, Madeline likes to watch game shows on cable. She is in her 90’s, Maria and I are taking her out to lunch one day this week.
I thin this photo captured the feel of the evening.
I am not quite whole without my blog, and never at peace if I can’t write something. It’s good to have the blog back on, I’m grateful there was no serious damage to our farm and thinking of all those people whose homes were battered and damaged by falling trees.
We have a lot of big old beautiful trees in our town, and the dark side of that is the havoc they cause when they fall on homes. The town was filled with state and county trucks and utility vehicles cleaning up the trees and getting them off the power lines.
I have a new list of Mansion residents for people to write too. You may notice some names are missing. This is the nature of life at the Mansion. This week, several people familiar to me, and perhaps you are gone. The staff is not permitted to tell me where they have gone or if they are coming back, and I know not to ask. I’ll figure it out over time or some of the other residents might tell me.
Some residents die. Some go the hospital, some to rehab, some to nurse homes, some leave for undisclosed reasons. I get attached but not too attached and learn to let go. There is alway someone new, someone needy. Someone up whom to commit small acts of great kindness.
One resident had her savings spent by a family member and has no money. One needs a stuffed animal to sleep with, another needs new bras after her breast surgery, another needs notecards so she can answer the letters you send her, another needs new shoes, hers are falling off of her feet.
Small acts of great kindness, no miracles.
Time is precious at the Mansion, it passes in a different way.
The names are Bob, Allan, Winnie, Jean, Art, Ben, John, Alanna, Peggie, Ellen, Joan, Brenda, Jackie, Silvie, Alice, Madeline, Mary, Blanche, Bill, Diane, Helen, Dottie, Ruth, Kenneth, Gerry, Guerda, Wayne, Matt.