Spring Break

This week is the kids' spring break, and we're visiting the grandparents in PA. It's cold and gray today, but as I am currently in the house (miraculously) alone, I don't mind. I love me some peace and quiet.

So far this break, we've been shopping (lots of stuff for the kiddos, only thing I got for me was socks. Kids are not patient shoppers). Been to my sister's house for my baby nephew's 16th birthday, and been to Hershey to Chocolate World. And, oh yeah, we had a tornado here on Sunday. Fortunately, we were not home at the time, we were on the road, traveling back to my parent's house from my sister's, when it happened. Got home to hail the size of a quarter on the ground, two very large pine trees twisted off their bases, roof damage, one barn across the road without a roof, another barn flattened, and much damage all around us. I'm very grateful we weren't home--the kids would have been terrified. When I was a kid, back in 1980, we had a terrible tornado my family remembers vividly. We were just sitting down at 5:00 to eat when the sky turned black and it started to pour--the rain actually came through the (closed) kitchen windows horizontally, then poured down the walls. We all ran to the basement as the wind blew, and by the time we emerged, maybe 10 or 15 minutes later, our neighbor's barn had collapsed and been struck by lightning and was on fire.

It was a pretty scary scene for all of us; cattle trapped and burning, some had escaped and run away, large sheets of tin strewn all around from the barn roof. Another neighbor lost the roof of their house, we had no power for 24 hours; overall, it was pretty unbelievable. That's one bit of excitement I never need to repeat.

In true farming fashion, however, the community turned up to help haul away the debris and our neighbor's had an old-fashioned barn raising, complete with Amish men in dark hats and coats raising up the new structure. It was a time I don't think I'll ever forget.

What's your best weather-related story? Snowstorms? Hurricanes? Or maybe you had a really wonderful spring break in some far-off, warm location that you'd like to tell me to make me jealous? I've never done the whole "spring break in Florida/Cozumel/Jamaica" thing, which is actually fine by me, but I would love an escape to someplace lovely and warm I've not been to someday. Soon.