Things have been hectic, to say the least

I've been awful at writing lately, but at least this time I have an excuse. During the wee hours of June 6, a Tornado ravaged the small town of Dundee. Although no one was killed and few were seriously hurt, the destruction to my neighborhood was great. Many of my neighbors had far greater damage than we did, but the loss of 50+ year-old trees is still something that's hard to take. We lost seven, over 20 ft. tall, pine trees on our property alone. The entire, historic neighborhood will take another 50 years to look that beautiful again.

Besides the neighborhood looking quite bare, it was so sad to see all the squirrels and birds wandering aimlessly about. They were confused because their "homes" were gone, and some even lost their babies. I've never experienced anything quite like it and hope that I never do again.

Here's a slide show of the damage at my house. Pictures will never do it justice, because seeing it in person is so much more intense.