Dear Reader:

Life fascinates me…no matter how many pine trees are in a forest… none are exactly alike upon closer inspection. Ask any parents of multiples births…(their children might be physically “identical” twins, triplets, quads, etc.) but each one’s emotional and social personality is unique to only that one.

And even though I have certainly complained about the similar days-restricted to home- and how I have spent them..dividing each day into garden time, meals, walking, reading, watching television, and blog writing…no day has really been the same upon reflection.

*I find different floral surprises blooming every day in the garden that weren’t there the day before, preparation of different meals, finishing one book and starting another story, different shows on television, and especially different idea for blog posts.

***I just discovered what color the second hibiscus is going to be…either a cream color or a pale yellow…here’s a peek of it starting to unfold.

Saturday evening definitely broke the mold for “same old…same old.” The past few days have been in the 90’s…hot and sticky…but Saturday night the sameness changed in a quick moment…a scary quick moment!

Around 8:30 I had put the garden to sleep…giving it one last drink of water…putting up the swing and bench pillows in case of rain and had come back in the house ‘to settle in’ for the night. The television was on and I had gone back to my bedroom to get “pinkie” robe … since a strange, almost chilly air, had started blowing in the front windows. And then it happened. Godzilla Dust Storm met Terrifying Thunderstorm!

Suddenly…everything got loud! Really loud! My first thought was my refrigerator was dying…but then I realized the sound was outside…you could actually feel the tension of the loud winds building up to some great crescendo…and POW! with a gushing sound the wind blew in my open windows so furiously it knocked over my small planter tables sending dirt and plants flying…

I thought “tornado” and flew towards the bathroom…rain and wind continued to pound the roof furiously as I heard broken limbs hitting all around…I gathered my courage and returned to close all the windows before any more damage could be done inside my house.

I don’t know what the scientific term is when wind starts swirling in circles like a tornado but not a regular tornado…smaller and more numerous…perhaps a “swirling dervish.” It was over in a short period but it  left me quaking in the after-math.

At first when I woke up Sunday morning…I was shocked not to see as much debris as I thought…but then when I went to check on the computer and blog post…I glanced out the window…and there it was several large tree branches that looked more like parts of trees ripped away.

I worked most of the morning picking up tree branches that were manageable…and left the one big tree limb for Jeff who is coming Tuesday for my regular lawn maintenance. But I made the mistake of sending the big limb photo to Vickie, my neighbor.

After working all morning inside and outside cleaning up debris…I fell into a “dead” sleep Sunday afternoon. When I woke up…I went to write this post and the tree limb was gone??? How? I had dragged one part of it off the Ginger Shells ( since the thick trunk was squashing them)…and that about did me in. Who was able to move it?

It was then I saw Vickie cutting her grass and was praying hard she didn’t do anything like that by herself…she had mentioned stopping by after she finished work at the golf club…but I never heard a knock or bell ring…couldn’t imagine her being able to pull that heavy thing to the street…but she had.

When I confronted her…she just grinned and said it wasn’t her…it was a big fairy. I responded it must have been a giant fairy!…Vickie should try out for some marathon or something…just amazing.

So glad “wimpy me” can at least help repay the kindness by keeping Vickie’s cat Fuzz a few days this week while she is visiting her granddaughter. When I followed her over to her rain forest (back yard  garden)…so pretty…she showed me Fuzz’s new “house” in the forest and more beautiful foliage.

Isn’t it “funny” how we get bored when things seem too much alike day after day…until something frightening happens and then we just want to return to the good old normal days with less drama?

So until tomorrow…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

While picking up debris yesterday I noticed two new blooms on the Spanish petunias and a red rose that had survived the torrential winds and rains… beauty always lives on.