wet day in the woods

Hooray! We finally got some of the rain we so desperately need this past week and weekend! It is so nice to see the lakes and streams having a little more water in them after last summer's awful drought. It hasn't all been wonderful, though--Dave had a volunteer crew out at the lake and the ground was so wet and soggy that they could only do a couple of the projects Dave had planned for them. Jed and I went with Dave on Saturday to check on the volunteers to make sure they hadn't floated away in the storm the night before.

I can't decide if Jed reminds me of Paddington Bear or Quasimodo in his rain coat. He had a great time splashing in the puddles.

Then Jed discovered the water spigot near the shelter where the volunteers had gathered to talk with Dave about the plan for the day. While they figured out what they were going to do, Jed had a grand time in the water.



Every time he would walk in front of the water, it would run into his boots. He had a great time despite his wet socks.



Splashing away!

After we got done with the volunteers, we took a walk down the trail where they had been working the day before. They had removed the old boards that ran down either side of the trail. The rain had all run into the groove where the boards had been, and Jed had a great time "stravaging along in the gutter."



His boots are a little big still and he kind of stumps along with them instead of truly walking. It's such a funny sight.


We haven't been to the lake since the tornado tore it all apart last April. Dave has tried to describe how damaged it is, but it's been hard for me to picture it. It was astounding to me to see the trees literally torn apart. The big tree on the right in the picture above is torn in half and lots of other trees were knocked down and scattered.



Seeing all the damage has made me realize how truly lucky we were the night the tornado hit. We were coming home from Lufkin and drove right past the lake in the wind and the lightning and the rain. We kept saying how greenish yellow the sky was, but we're just not used to tornadoes and didn't realize how much danger we were in! I feel so blessed that we were able to make it home to our safe little house before the tornado touched down at the lake.



Jed likes to give little sermons on high places. At home he stands on our bathroom scale and preaches to me. All the stumps were perfect for his speech and he gave it many times. I can't quite figure out what he's saying--I know it's from a movie, but I can't figure out which one, so if you have any guesses, let me know.

It was a fun day to be out in the rain and good to be back at the lake. Hopefully they will get it open soon so we can go back for some more swimming!