Wednesday, April 14, 2010

His Blessings are new each morning

I am always amazed how much better things seem in the morning. Yesterday the wind blew with such ferocity that many folks were concerned for the roofs on their houses and much other personal property. I can't remember the last time I have witnessed the wind blowing that hard for that long.

The people of the county seat of McPherson County had other concerns yesterday. They were concerned for their entire homes. You see, a week or so ago, the old dump (aka landfill) was started on fire by a few kids playing with matches. Since there wasn't much wind, only a few acres of pasture land burned that day. Naughty boys....but not much harm done. But since that time, some people had put more trash out at the dump. And apparently, the first fire was still smoldering just a bit. The high winds from yesterday reignited the fire. With a vengeance.

My brother lives maybe a half mile north of the dump. Behind his house is a very nice cedar windbreak and lining the road further north is a windbreak that attaches to his. Beyond that to the north lies the town of Tryon.

With the wind blowing so hard the fire burned very rapidly. So rapidly, in fact, that by the time anyone noticed it, it had already burned almost to Randy's place. He had what was left of his winter hay stored literally feet( approx. 200) from the south and west of his home. It caught fire. Bales catching on fire are difficult to put out. There will be hot spots all through the bale, so it has to be torn apart, mostly with tractors but then with pitchforks. Water needs to be sprayed on it to put out anything burning or that might burn. Besides the fire department, who are all volunteers, many, many ranchers and towns folk came to help. It was touch and go for a little while. Quite literally, the entire town of Tryon could have gone up. All of Randy's hay was lost and maybe a few other small pieces of equipment and a few fenceposts. But for the most part, things turned out pretty darned good.

The wind continued to blow like the dickens after we left the fire. Most likely, Randy was out babysitting it until the rains came. I don't think I have ever been any dirtier than I was yesterday.....

There were several other fires in the area yesterday. I only know the cause of one. Branches were blown onto old power lines which fell onto a shed and started it on fire. The quick work of the owners and volunteer firefighters kept this fire from being a much worse one also.

And then the rain came. It was a powerful, heavy rain that brought great moisture to our hills. I am very thankful for the moisture and for the rain putting an end to the fires.

This morning, there was no wind at all. As I walked through the heifer lot when the sun was just peeking up over the horizon, I thought of the bible verse "His blessings are new each morning." I think the context is really a little different than how I have chosen to take it today, but nevertheless, it is so true. The wind has died down, the rains have washed all the sand that blew around away and given new life to the grass trying to work its way out of the earth. The fires that raged yesterday are a thing of the past. It's almost like yesterday never happened in some small way. If only we would always put each day behind us so easily and just say, "His blessings are new each morning".......

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