Okay, the first thing I need to say is, I'm fine.
But my car's not.
I was watching the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert hour last night, wherein they were ridiculing the idea that God takes a personal interest in every little bad thing that happens to people. And I pretty much agree. As far as I'm concerned, the only time "Act of God" enters into things is for insurance purposes.
This morning I witnessed an Act of God.
I woke up about 7 AM from a dream in which various mob bosses were attempting to rub me out. Needless to say, I wasn't eager to get back to sleep, not that the nasty wind howling outside would have let me. Shortly thereafter Robin awoke as well, and we went to the living room to check out the windy weather and speculate on what kind of commute I'd have.
I was not destined to have a commute today.
We watched a particularly powerful, freak gust of wind, and suddenly heard a loud cracking sound, as a huuuuuge branch from the tree bordering our landlord's property tore away and plummeted very quickly from a great height, probably around 40 feet up, as the wind blew it across the driveway, where it smashed into my car, shattering the back windshield and caving in the back of the car's roof. This all happened in about 2 seconds, not even enough time for us to catch our breath let alone do anything about the situation.
Rob dressed quickly and ran outside to take pictures for the insurance company.
You can see that not only is the back window completely smashed in, but there's a huge gouge in the back of the roof.
Here's a wider shot of my car in relation to the tree (right side, background) so you can see how far the branch had to fly across to even come near it. Lillian's car (which had been next to mine and which she moved, along with the branches, prior to this picture being taken) and the one next to hers (closest to the tree) weren't even touched.
Here's the offending branch in question - which, if it had hit a person, would likely have killed that person instantly. It looks a lot smaller in this picture than it actually is.
I've just spent the last two hours telling the office I won't be in, calling my insurance company, arranging for a tow to my local auto repair shop, and wondering how I'm going to get by for goodness knows how long without wheels.
I'm still pretty shaken up, but Rob and I have both kept our heads about this, and are resigned to whatever happens. And we're counting our blessings - nobody was outside when this happened, I wasn't in the car when it happened, we have another witness as Lillian's son saw the whole thing happen, and even though the car isn't in driveable condition I can still get into it and into the trunk. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to wait for the tow truck. More later after I calm down...
But my car's not.
I was watching the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert hour last night, wherein they were ridiculing the idea that God takes a personal interest in every little bad thing that happens to people. And I pretty much agree. As far as I'm concerned, the only time "Act of God" enters into things is for insurance purposes.
This morning I witnessed an Act of God.
I woke up about 7 AM from a dream in which various mob bosses were attempting to rub me out. Needless to say, I wasn't eager to get back to sleep, not that the nasty wind howling outside would have let me. Shortly thereafter Robin awoke as well, and we went to the living room to check out the windy weather and speculate on what kind of commute I'd have.
I was not destined to have a commute today.
We watched a particularly powerful, freak gust of wind, and suddenly heard a loud cracking sound, as a huuuuuge branch from the tree bordering our landlord's property tore away and plummeted very quickly from a great height, probably around 40 feet up, as the wind blew it across the driveway, where it smashed into my car, shattering the back windshield and caving in the back of the car's roof. This all happened in about 2 seconds, not even enough time for us to catch our breath let alone do anything about the situation.
Rob dressed quickly and ran outside to take pictures for the insurance company.
You can see that not only is the back window completely smashed in, but there's a huge gouge in the back of the roof.
Here's a wider shot of my car in relation to the tree (right side, background) so you can see how far the branch had to fly across to even come near it. Lillian's car (which had been next to mine and which she moved, along with the branches, prior to this picture being taken) and the one next to hers (closest to the tree) weren't even touched.
Here's the offending branch in question - which, if it had hit a person, would likely have killed that person instantly. It looks a lot smaller in this picture than it actually is.
I've just spent the last two hours telling the office I won't be in, calling my insurance company, arranging for a tow to my local auto repair shop, and wondering how I'm going to get by for goodness knows how long without wheels.
I'm still pretty shaken up, but Rob and I have both kept our heads about this, and are resigned to whatever happens. And we're counting our blessings - nobody was outside when this happened, I wasn't in the car when it happened, we have another witness as Lillian's son saw the whole thing happen, and even though the car isn't in driveable condition I can still get into it and into the trunk. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to wait for the tow truck. More later after I calm down...
0 comments:
Post a Comment