About The River

Sunday, June 10, 2018

The Black Cloud

Hello Friends!
I am back. 
We had a lovely graduation, family time and the party was fantastic.  Thank you for the prayers and well wishes for Sam. I will be sharing photos from our graduation party this coming week, along with tips and tricks if you will be hosting a party anytime soon. And a few things I learned to do for the 2020 Graduation Party!! 

It is good to be back and I think a story is a good way to get back into the groove ..


Our family celebrated Memorial Day by attending the Rice Lake Memorial Day Services. It always is well done. The guest speaker for the past years has always done a great job and again this year. Lakeview Medical Center Hospice Care also spoke this year about the new program they have for Veterans, We Honor Veterans. The coordinator of the program shared a few moving stories of honoring Veterans while on hospice. 
At the end of the service we rose to sing God Bless the U.S.A by Lee Greenwood .. we were led in song by a WWII Veteran. 
As the song began, he was not able to sing, he then announced to all of us "I have been thinking of this all morning, now when it is time to do it, I have forgot the words." All of us in the crowd cheered for him. As the chorus came he got the words back and was able to finish the song. 
We all gave him a standing ovation and many cheers.
It was a great program.




After the service we went to our friends home for dinner and time on the lake canoeing and fishing. We took our canoe for the day.

The weather in Wisconsin has been a wee bit NUTS!! 
Memorial Day was a HOT day, 100 degrees and that is crazy weather for May in Wisconsin.
The weather folks said nothing about storms. Why should they, the sky was blue, the sun was bright and a warm breeze would help cool one off.

We had a great time at our friends, enjoying our time on the lake, fishing (I caught 7 fish!)  It was getting late and time to head for home.
We loaded the canoe up on the rack of our auto.
We heard thunder in the distance. The kind of thunder when you say to your friend "Did you hear thunder?" and they say "I think so,  maybe not, maybe it is a jet, not sure." Because the sky is blue, so why would we think thunder!

We said our goodbyes and on our way we went. We got on to the highway and saw a BLACK CLOUD and we were driving into the black cloud. I quickly got my phone out and looked at the weather. A storm had brewed up, but it should not hit our hometown, we just needed to go along the edge of the black cloud to get home.

We were doing well. We were cruising along .. so was the black cloud.
All of a sudden the wind picked up, it literally picked up our canoe off the top of our auto.
I screamed! 
Jeremy stopped, the boys got out, they tied the canoe down as tight as they could.

Jeremy said we will take it slow, we will get home. Just as he said that, going along at 45 miles per hour, the wind once again picked up the canoe and swung the canoe sideways on the top of the auto.
I am getting out! I am running away! I want nothing to do with driving home with the canoe on the top of our auto.
I begin to scream. "Jeremy, WE HAVE TO ABANDONED THE CANOE!"
We have friends in the area, I say "Can we take the canoe to Dave's?" Jeremy looks at me, the boys look at me, they say at the same time "Mom, Dave's is back that away, two miles back that way, two miles back in the black cloud!"

What are we going to do!
Jeremy and the boys tie the canoe down one more time, we do not make it a wee bit more and the canoe is lifted up and the entire conversation from above happens again, but this time I am louder!! The boys also agree, we need to abandon the canoe. Jeremy agrees we need to abandon the canoe.

 We scan the homes we are around and say "that one looks like nice people."
The storm has not hit yet, but you know how it can be windy, the sky is green and it is going to crack open at any second .. well that is what it was like as we knocked on the strangers door. 

We explained .. we are about 30 miles from home .. can we please leave our canoe .. the wind keeps blowing the canoe over .. we will pick it up in the morning ..  .. THANK YOU!!!

We were blessed that yes, we did come across nice people. We left our canoe. We got home just in time. Then the lighting cracked, the power went out, the hail pelted and the thunder rattled the house.  

In the morning we went and picked up our canoe.

The End!

It is good to be back .. Graduation Party coming up next.
Carla

16 comments:

  1. Welcome back, hope you had a great graduation party together

    ReplyDelete
  2. You were smart to leave your canoe and how nice that these people were willing to help. Of course there are a lot of good people out there. They aren't in the 'news' but they are everywhere! Enjoy your Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the cheers and applause for the veteran who forgot the words for a moment. That happens to me so often now, and it can be embarrassing. I am glad you found nice strangers to help you in the storm. Thankful you got home safe before the hail storm. So glad you are posting on the blog again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, that is some story. Thankfully you found some nice people to leave your canoe with. Glad you were safe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congrats to all of you on the graduation, it takes a family to get them all grown up and ready to fly. That storm sounds horrible, glad you are all safe.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am so glad that the party went well. Congratulation to Sam, again, and congratulations to you on a party well done. That canoe story sounds terrifying. I can imagine myself having the same conversation with my husband. Glad it all worked out, but how scary!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my that sounds scary! The only time we've had trouble with things on top of the car was going away for a few days, we took hubby's bike on the roof of the car. We had travelled some distance when I realised I'd left the dress I needed for an event we were going to behind. We decided to stop at the next main shopping area to get something suitable for me to wear. We opted to park in a multi-storey car park. We (I) forgot the bike was on the roof! Opps - we went under the height barrier and the bike flew off behind us. Fortunately no damage was done to the car coming up behind us. The same could not be said for the bike! lol

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh my goodness Carla. I was sitting at the edge of my chair. I'm so glad the men listened to you and that you didn't got airborne with that canoe and ended up in Texas.

    The weather was kind of like that with our flood. It came out of nowhere, fast and furious.
    I 'm glad you found a place to leave your canoe and all ended well. Wow, what a ride.

    Take care and enjoy your week.
    Hugs, Julia

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my goodness! What an intense trip home for you guys. Thank goodness you left it with nice people!! I can't wait to see the grad party photos!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh Carla how scary to be in the middle of a bad storm like that. Glad you found wonderful people to keep the canoe safe for you. Glad you got home before the big storm hit too. Hail can be so damaging and the winds oh my! We had a similar storm Friday night here in Illinois and I have to say it was scary. I love a good summer thunder storm but not this kind with high winds and hail. Glad the graduation party was a success for Sam. I bet it was a great honor for him to share his accomplishment with family and friends. Have a great week. We are being deluged with lots and lots of rain. My poor flowers are being drenched. Would love to see some sun soon.
    Hugs,
    Kris

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, my sweet friend, I'm so glad you made it home safely. God was watching over you. Thank you for sharing Lee Greenwood's song and the story of the vet who was scheduled to sing. Bless his heart! I'm so glad everyone cheered for him; that must have been a moving moment. Dennis and I are patriots. We love our country and are proud of our military. Hugs to you! Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  12. How frightening! I am glad you found some nice people and where able to set the canoe down and continue your travels safely. I can not imagine how white my knuckles would have been. Glad you are safe.

    ReplyDelete
  13. So pleased that you had a lovely graduation, family time and party.

    Not nice to be in weather like that.
    So pleased you got back home ok.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  14. Phew, Carla, what a scary story! You got home safely AND got your canoe back, well done!
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  15. There is noticeably a bundle to learn about this. I assume you made sure nice factors in features also. casino games

    ReplyDelete

High Fives from Wisconsin!