Monday, June 21, 2021

"Are We Going To Have A Derecho Again?"

 This is the third time since the beginning of summer break that I was asked about last summer's derecho. If you don't know what a derecho is, well let me tell you. It's an inland hurricane that leaves a lot of destruction. Last summer, on a Monday in August, in the final weeks of summer vacation, we had one plow through. A tree was centimeters away from crushing our house, we lost power for a full week, we spent three days cleaning up and chaining sawing trees, I had to close daycare until we had power and our street was passable. It was not my idea of a "good storm." 

It was quite the opposite. We haven't had high winds or a severe thunderstorm since then, but I honestly don't know how I'll handle it when we do. That day could have done so much more damage than it actually did and that is not lost on me one bit.

Cue this summer. On the first day of summer daycare, the kids started talking about the derecho and how they played in the basement. Yes, because that's exactly what happened. Then they excitedly spoke of the opossums they found in the rubble in the backyard after the storm. That made the highlight reel apparently. Then I was asked,

"Are we going to have a derecho again?" They have asked me this question this same way three times now. I answered no each time, but what gets me is that they're asking in a way that makes it sound like it was some daycare activity I had planned! Like it was so cool and they loved it, so why not do it again??!? Kids are so odd. What was one of the scariest days of my life was clearly a highlight for them!

What they remember:

What I remember: