Storm

I wish I had brought my camera with me this morning. There was (apparently) a big storm in the campus area last night with lots of wind and heavy rain, and perhaps even hail. On the bus ride to school, signs were cockeyed and leaves and small branches were everywhere on the ground. When I got off at my stop, the parking lot I cross every morning was like a Monet painting, standing in water and covered in green. Several larger branches and almost a whole tree blocked the sidewalk in other places.

Trees here are more delicate than back home. In the Panhandle, the wind blows incessantly. From the time that trees are saplings, they are culled. They even grow up bent in the direction of the prevailing wind. Tornadic winds are necessary to do much beyond blowing down a few leaves.

Surprisingly, this observation extends to man-made structures. Power lines blew down, windows blew out, and all sorts of other damage was dealt by the first big wind I experienced here. When people build something in the Panhandle, they tie it down. They anticipate routine gale-force winds.