The Storm

Our connection to the Midwest continues. It seems that any storm that originates in Chicago follows a path to DC. Most often, when it crosses the mountains it subsides. But with the heat and weird weather we have been having these days, we expereinced the most unusual chain of events last evening. Growing up in Florida, I have been in hurricanes. And obviously in the Midwest, we had many snow storms. But since we moved to DC, we have had an earthquake, a snowstorm with 2 feet of snow that paralyzed the city, and a hurricane. In Milwaukee we experienced a wind sheer that took out most of the trees in the neighbohood. One of the huge branches landed on the power lines and pulled them away from the house. We were without electricity for several days. Last night, my husband brought in the cushions from the patio because rain was predicted. As soon as he came in, we heard this unbelievable wind and it felt like the house would be blown away. Sheets of water were pouring from the roof. Rain was hitting the windows so hard we could not see out of them. I was thinking Noah's Ark and The Wizard of Oz. Luckily the patio is in a protected area, and the umbrella didn't take off. We listened to the news that close to one million folks were without power around us. Luckily, we were spared. Today we took a ride around town and things are a mess. No operating tafffic lights meant car accidents in Virginia, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was canceled today becasue half the tents blew away, and there were downed trees all along the Mall. And the temperature is climbing. Let's hope this is the last of it.

A large tree fell in the Lyndon Johnson Memorial Grove along the GW Parkway

All the traffic lights are out- this one resulted in a 4 car crash

The workers are observing the accident from the metro work site

A welcome sight with 1 Million without power

A huge tree down by the Lincoln Memorial

Fallen branches along the Smithsonian Buildings placed in the cart

By the Air and Space Museum

Our neighborhood