Hello again. This former ink-stained wretch has been finished with “Meanderings” for some time but after the thorough stoning received in recent storms we are compelled to comment.
As this is written, locals are hauling trailer-loads of vegetation sheared from trees to the burn pile for eventual immolation. It’s a big pile. Hyper-competitive roofing and siding contractors have descended upon Callaway seeking contracts, while insurance adjusters have parachuted in like Airborne Rangers to assess the damage that will likely tally into the millions. The east side of structures in town and around appear to have come under intense gunfire, breaking out windows, pulverizing siding and roofs just replaced in the last hailstorm of 2017. We have observed cars that now look as dimpled as golf balls, imitating the size of the hail (and far larger) that pummeled us into submission for a time. Lots of smashed windshields and broken car windows adding accents to nature’s destructive art. Few were spared from one kind of demolition or another.
Each new storm system that begins cranking up in the west makes us a little bit nervous. Such disasters remind us that caution and preparation are in order — even if it’s just getting the cars and potted plants under cover.
The Wendorff family was away finishing up celebrating our eldest granddaughter getting hitched in Lincoln so only began hearing about the assault via social media and phone calls. Random do-gooders were already circulating around town with sheets of plywood to cover shattered windows. We had friends show up to check up on our house. Grandson, Trevor, came with his dad to sweep up glass and rake the downed leaves and branches into piles in the yard. They will be made aware of our gratitude as will those who checked up on things and/or threw up plywood on the east side of the house pending our arrival. The cat lived, by the way.
It's all just stuff that can be fixed and replaced. No one died. More important is how people turned out to help each other secure homes/businesses and begin cleaning up the mess. We are no strangers to natural disasters. It’s just part of living in Nebraska. You finally get your stuff arranged the way you want it and the weather comes along and mixes it all up again. Rural areas east and Oconto received their own dose of cocktail ice gone feral and are undergoing recoveries of their own. We see similar selfless acts going on all around us. By the time you read this much of the destruction will have been carted away and, aside from the obvious damage, we are slowly working our way back to normal. This, pending the descent of hordes of contractors to fix our stuff along with the racket that brings.
We live here and are grateful to be here among folks so willing to go that extra mile. Volunteers even managed to host BRAN despite the recovery work so urgent and ongoing. If Callaway is not voted best host community, well, so be it. There are more important things to worry about.