To be lost in a storm

The last week of January, 2015 has been one when Spain has been knocked about by very high winds, some of hurricane strength, and terrible flooding. This is a country unacustomed to dealing with such high winds, so we were not really ready for the damage that can be suffered at the mercy of this aspect of Nature.

Flooding is often the cause of the total loss of your car, and that's so sad. So many homes have a garage under the house, leading to the possibility of waking up one day and finding that the garage is now a swimming pool with your car under water. That's the sort of thing to reduce the most hardened man to tears.

I returned home on Thrusday the 29th January, after a day out and parked in my usual spot, which is to say under a tent surrounded by trees. The weather was temperate and the winds calm. However, as the evening wore on the winds began to rise, which caused me, out of an abundance of caution to move the car to a clearing. This is a routine precaution that I take, and I would do so even if I had to get out of bed.

That night the wind howled as I had never known it, with some gusts so strong that they were like giant hammer blows.  The night passed and I lost no sleep, but in the morning when I was leaving home I opened my eyes to a scene of total destruction. Had I left the car in place two and a half trees would have fallen upon it, as they fell upon the tent. My lovely car, upon which I depend so much, would have been a write-off.  I can't say that I was lucky because I deliberately moved the car away from harm, but it does underscore the point that it pays to be careful.

However, up and down the country so many other car owners were not so fortunate. Cars parked along the street were a common casualty as trees and power poles fell, crushing them like matchsticks. Just as I felt complete relief and joy to know my car is safe for another day, the opposite would have been those owners reaction. So, I have all those people in mind and I feel your pain. If there was nothing a person could have done to move to a safer place, and if you are in the city, you don't have a lot of options, except moving to underground paid parking perhaps, then you are at the mercy of the elements.

Life, is not fair, it's simply Life, and we take what comes our way.

Copyright (c) 2015  Eugene Carmichael