The Brookston Storm

A big storm came through at midnight Wednesday night/Thursday morning with 100 mph winds. Believe it or not, I slept through it all, but Craig was up and thought we might be having a tornado. He said our home actually shook, and that he heard popping noises on the second floor. He also said it sounded as though we were losing siding off the east end of the house.

Miraculously, aside from overturned patio furniture, our home was unscathed.

Bookston, a little to the north of us, was not so lucky.

News reports said it and Buck Creek were without power, but that Brookston had had so much damage, state roads 43 and 18 were closed due to downed trees and power lines. I drove up at noon to check the orchard property and see if we had sustained any damage there.

Because 43 was closed, I had to turn onto S 200 E and go the back way to the orchard.

The silos at S 200 E and E 1250 S had been damaged. (My sister Jenny, for unknown reasons, called these silos "cantaloupes" as a child!)

 Two had been pushed to the side...

 ... and another completely shoved off its pad and crumpled.

Crops had sustained wind damage, too. Field after field had corn all leaning toward the east.

The woods my mother owns were in good shape, although I could see at least one tree had been snapped off at the top.

 The northern edge of her property is at the corner of S 200 E and E 1100 S.

Some of the old apple trees are still there and had sustained some damage.

It is hard to tell, but these are apple trees that have been toppled in the north end.

Surprisingly, despite the massive tree damage, the houses I saw had very little damage, even those surrounded by trees that had been destroyed. There was rotation documented over the area, but my guess is that this was not a tornado - it was either a macroburst, derecho, or straight line winds.

The National Weather Service will be out today and giving its opinion later. I am interested in hearing what they have to say about the storm.

Update at 9:00 PM: The National Weather Service has deemed the storm to have been straight line winds and not a tornado.

Groompa Camp - Day 4

Busy day! So busy that I didn't even get Saturday blogged about until Sunday (which has been a much quieter day, at least thus far.)

We started the day by taking some pictures designed to entice Braden, Addie, and Corinne to wonder about the gifts their cousins bought them as a surprise.

Trinity had the idea of covering them and then peeking at them like this. 

We also took a picture of something else we'd bought for them that was not a surprise - books from the Monon Train Museum.

JC purchased this giant penguin for himself - Flurdizzle's new friend!

Then it was time to head out to one of our most favorite spots - JC and Trin want to go here every summer during camp. (So do we.)

Prophet's Rock.

 They climbed up the rock...

 ... and down (posing for a photo op as they did so)...

 ... and inside the rock! (By the way, I climbed into the rock, too. First time since I had my knees replaced! Yay, me!)

 I love the layers in the rock (here Trin does her best John Travolta impression.)

 JC was intrigued by the cave that is back deep inside Prophet's Rock.

 He clambered a way back, but it was wet inside so he didn't go too far. (Snakes have lived back there in the past, too, so I was okay that he didn't explore the back of the cave.)

Trinity sits on another section of rock layers.

Trinity and JC were thrilled to find that a Boy Scout troop from our church had spruced up the trail by Prophet's Rock.

Then it was time to head to another beloved spot - the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe!

 It looks like Trinity is entering through the eagle gate, but she and JC actually climbed the style to enter - also an annual tradition.

 JC took this photo of Trinity and me at the obelisk...

 ... and then joined her while I took a picture. (He has been a bit camera shy this year and as a result, isn't in as many pictures as usual.)

I am horse-sitting Leslie's herd this week, so after visiting the battlefield and the museum, we headed up to Brookston to check the horses.

Skippy and Trinity became good friends. (Copious amounts of sugar cubes helped.)

While JC and Coco bonded.

The cutest pony in the world!

Trinity offered Coco some treats as well, but spent most of her time with Skippy.

We exiled Beau after a couple of treats - he can be unpredictable. Beau decided to have a good roll instead.

Ahhhh!!

Skippy has such a sweet temperament, and I think he was Trin's favorite of the three.

After lunch we went to Westminster to visit Pooma and join in the festivities of their car show.

The kids were quite excited to find out what a rumble seat was.

Cotton candy, soft serve ice cream, a magician, barbershop quartets, and best of all, POOMA!

But the day wasn't over yet. Changing clothes after the car show, Lisa took the kids to Tropicanoe Cove and then picked up Arni's pizzas and junior salads for supper. And after that, we played corn hole and Thirteen Dead End Drive, an old game from Lisa's childhood.

Needless to say, it was a very full day, and we were looking forward to the Sabbath and a day of rest!