The Storm and the Farm

The Storm and the Farm

By Allan Olson

Oh, what a week! We were just firing up the charcoal grill on Monday evening when the rains started to fall. No big deal. I moved over to the garage and fired up the small camping propane grill to cook the evening meal.

We devoured supper as the rains continued. We watched as the rain poured harder and the winds picked up speed. We moved to the basement; it was cooler anyway, and after awhile the lights started to flicker. My wife and I knew what was likely to happen – we were going to lose power. And then it happened. For a brief moment we hoped that it would only be temporary, but that hope quickly faded.

I decided to go find the Skip Bo cards and a candle, and we played a game by candlelight. With the power out, I decided to have some fun.

“Ben, will you start a load of laundry?” I asked my teenage nephew.

“Um, sure where’s the laundry room?” he replied.

I told him that it was by the girls’ room, and he started in that direction. When he got to their room, he stopped and turned, realizing that I was messing with him. “We have no power! How can I start it?”

I also messed with my children, trying to get them to turn on lights and other things; it was a great source of enjoyment for a brief period of time. With the storm over, the kids were sent to bed. Soon it was too dark to even play a game by candlelight, so I, too, headed to bed. Fortunately for us, our power was restored after about nine hours. In my whole life, I don’t remember being without power for that long, and I was grateful that it was restored so quickly, at least when compared to so many others in the area.

With no power, that meant no internet, and with no cellular service, I couldn’t even get online to check on the storm damage. I falsely assumed that it was no big deal since thee were only a few scattered branches laying around my yard.

The next morning, I saw online that the storm had really nailed the Cass Lake area. I was quick to leave the house to get a look at the damage firsthand. I surveyed the trees on my way to work and noticed a few broken here and there, but soon came upon many trees lying in piles together. It was evident that crews had been working all night to get the road cleared.

It was crazy to see how much damage was done in just a short period of time. Trees were bent, twisted and broken everywhere. Driving by Norway Beach, I saw “Road Closed” signs. It took a few seconds for what I saw there to register; I had to turn around for another look, and then the destruction really sunk in. During my drive around Cass Lake that morning and over the course of the next few days, seeing all the near misses (and some of the direct hits) made me realize how truly amazing it was that no one was injured (or worse).

We took the kids for a drive on July 4^th and I took even more pictures. They were amazed at the amount of damage, and what trees can end up looking like when the wind decides to move things. A week after the storm, the power has been restored to all of those in Cass and Beltrami counties, and the cleanup continues. Utility companies worked long hours to get the power back on line, along with phone, cable and internet services restored for those experiencing problems after the power came back on.

This weekend was spent up at my wife’s family farm for a wedding. The farm is literally a stone’s throw from the Canadian border, and the weekend was one filled with wagon rides (thankfully it didn’t break, like last year), laughter, music and swimming. I even enjoyed a refreshing jump or two into the nice, cool Rainy River to get a break from the heat.

Another exciting part of the weekend was a canoe trip – that I had no part in. Nikolai took his first voyage in a canoe. He and his cousin Michael made the trip by themselves. I had left the farm, and got back just in time to transport them upstream to their starting point. I had no idea what was going on, and had second thoughts about Nikolai and his cousin by themselves in a canoe. I suggested to his aunt (one of the other canoers) to split things up a little, but they wanted to give it a try. “We can always go to shore and switch,” she said.

After dropping them off, I returned to the farm. I kept checking the time, waiting for when I thought they might be getting back. A little over two hours after departure, the first two canoes arrived. “I think Nik and Michael might have tipped their canoe,” said my niece Angela. I’m not sure if she really thought that, or if she was just trying to make me more nervous. About 15 minutes late, the remaining three canoers returned. Nikolai and Michael made it just fine, although Michael admitted that he tried to tip the canoe a little. According to his aunt, they beached the canoe a few times and traveled all over the river, and in at least one instance nearly crossed the “invisible” border line in the river over into Canada.

Nikolai said the trip was fun, but his arms really hurt. That evening, just prior to the fireworks, I realized he was missing. I found him in the tent with Bob. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “I had to get away from the noise,” he said, which I took to mean, “I’m really tired and I need sleep.” “Okay, good night,” I said. “I’m not going to sleep,” he said. “Okay,” I said, not believing him even a little.

The younger three kids all watched the fireworks and went on one more wagon ride with me. I had Abigail and Marcus sitting next to me, and they both fell asleep during the bumpy 20-minute ride. Alivia fell asleep, too, in the arms of a cousin she has only met a few times, but since they share the same birthdate she became quick friends with him. I got the twins to bed and my found my wife in what we call the Bulldog Bar (aka the barn) visiting with family. I finally retired around 2 a.m., and she followed a couple of hours later; some members of her family were still going strong.

We packed up the next morning and left by noon, completely worn out by our second consecutive weekend of sleeping on an air mattress.

It was fun, but I’m ready for some real R&R this weekend – staying home.

Please be safe on the lakes – wear your life jacket, keep the kids safe, , and remember to take a picture to preserve a lifetime of memories.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week. For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com.