FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Tornado aftermath

["Clayton Gascoigne" <c.gascoigne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is Clay Gascoigne in Jackson, TN.  Mark wrote of the devastation in 
Jackson and I concur
that devastation seems a mild word.  Monday morning  our home on  Gracelyn 
Drive near Union University 
four miles or so from the tornado's  main path, the effects of Sunday night's 
storms were quite 
evident.  Sunday night the winds blew, sirens were wailing, rain was coming in 
wind driven torrents 
and as my wife and I huddled in an interiror bathtub covered with pillows and 
blankets, the power 
went off and hail pelted the roof sounding  like baseballs and branches and 
debris hit windows and 
rooftops with wild abandon. Then things quieted a bit and we chanced returning 
to bed. Monday morning
our back and front lawns were littered with branches and leaves and parts of 
trees. But the amazing thing 
was birds singing.  The cardinals were flitting and pecking.  Blue jays were 
calling raucously.  The red-bellied 
woodpecker appeared.  Bluebirds could be heard softly calliong.  Robins were 
dining all over the lawn
as worms were near the surface and easy to find.  A black-throated green 
warbler told us to "plant more trees".
An Eastern wood pewee had found a new perch on a broken oak limb and was busily 
flying up after flying
insects.  Towhees were calling and a wood thrush sang from the wooded area 
nearby. It's amazing how 
much damage can be wrought in such a short time, and out of all this chaos the 
birds sing and life goes on
the same as before.  

Clay Gascoigne,
Gracelyn Drive
Jackson, TN

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