We had a downburst day before yesterday. That's one of those situations associated with thunderstormes where a big blob of cool air falls out of the sky and creates horizonal wind when it hits the surface. Sometimes people confuse them with tornados, but the wind doesn't twist. This one must have been centered on our house, because the damage spread out about a quarter mile in all directions. Beyond that, they just got heavy rain.(Officially it was 1.5 inches, but we got over three.) Our house wasn't damaged, but our garden was flattened. Horizonal cornstalks! It was not a pretty sight. There was a hickory tree in the back yard that was so big I couldn't reach around it. It was close to 100 feet tall. It fell away(whew!) from the house and into the woods where it snapped off a two-foot diameter tree about 20 feet above the ground. Limbs up to six inches in diameter fell all over the yard. A large oak fell in an empty lot across the street and just down the hill, five big pines fell like dominos. Another big tree fell at the edge of a field about 400 yards away. Several houses lost dogwood and maple trees. I've heard chain saws all day. After two days, the power keeps going off and on. I guess they are working on the lines. Our cable TV has been out all day but is back on now. Naturally, the weather channel is messed up. It's always the first to go when the weather gets rotten.

It's a mess, but I guess we were lucky. I didn't see any structural damage to any neighboring houses. Anybody need any firewood?
Howard