~ Blessed ~

Blessed.  That is the best word I can think of.   We had little damage, a couple of trees down, lots of limbs down, yard a mess - and we think we have a leak in the roof - this rain will tell!   My family in Cullman all survived without harm or damage to their homes too.

We - and by we, I mean Gary - cleaned up the yard, cut up the trees and our yard now looks almost normal again.   He loves his chain saw!  It took him 3 days of constant work - which he seemed to really like (I don't get it!), and he was done!   There is still some little things to be done, but for the most part, he took care of all of it.  

I cleaned the fridge and freezer out - little by little - trying to save or cook what we could - in the end - we lost both freezers of stuff - which wasn't a huge loss and most everything in the fridge - we had three coolers packed with ice and fridge stuff.  Thanks to our camper, we had hot water to take showers (heats by propane!), and thanks to all of Gary's Boy Scout skills and supplies, we survived quite well with no power - just missed the TV for news updates - we survived by radio.

By Saturday afternoon we needed some normalcy, so we took off to Murphreesboro for an overnight of normal - on the way back we went to a park in Manchester - Old Stone Fort State Park - we like checking out any potential camping grounds.  It was so pretty. 

"The Old Stone Fort is a 2000 year-old American Indian ceremonial site. It consists of mounds and walls that combine with cliffs and rivers to form an enclosure measuring 1-1/4 miles around. The 50-acre hilltop enclosure mound site is believed to have served as a central ceremonial gathering place for some 500 years. It has been identified as, perhaps, the most spectacularly sited sacred area of its period in the United States and the largest and most complex hilltop enclosure in the south. Settlers tended to name such enclosures “forts.” "

It was beautiful.   In the middle of the walls and mounds - which you could not see anymore was an open field that was just spectacular.   It was a nice diversion.  Gary wants to go back and camp there sometime, so we will most likely return.  

Our power came back on within an hour of returning home on Sunday, and I returned to work on Monday.  Gary is still out.

Gary (who grew up in Tuscaloosa and still has family there) lost one of his best friends to the tornado in Tuscaloosa, his dog found his body in the wreckage of his home.  They grew up in each others homes from early childhood on.  Also, one of his aunts and two of his cousins lost their homes in Tuscaloosa.  He is going down on Wednesday for the funeral and to check on his family.

Considering all of the losses of lives and homes, yes, I can say we are blessed.