The week that was and a Thursday evening with the Herrocks

I'm currently somewhat uninterested in blogging. It usually ebbs and flows and it's presently ebbing. I just don't have anything interesting to talk about so I'll give a few bullet points and get out.

Emma came over and cooked Tagine last Friday night. 

We went by to see the boys last Sunday night.

William did some cool moves with my umbrella.

James....

Is all about getting his hands on the phone.

What's your problem? Gimme the phone!

Imma bout to make this cake.
Just did.

Due to the tornado we've gathered quite a bit of firewood in the last week and we are now chainsaw owners. We saw with chains...well..John does at least. The other evening he and I went back to get more wood...and don't forget...wood is heavy, and I had picked up some and remembered it was heavy and then got distracted as he was sawing and I went over to look at this oak that had fallen. These pictures don't come close to depicting the enormity of this tree. And I started thinking about how people call oaks mighty and strong. Well, I've decided that's just not the case. In the last few weeks since the tornado, I've seen oak trees laid down on their side all over town. And while I love an oak tree, they aren't so sturdy when faced with a very large wind. That's just a fact.  

This particular tree is so huge I just can't explain it. I guess I should've had someone stand beside it to emphasize how big it really is. 

Super tall and has so many branches. Jared said he bet there was 20 cords of wood in it. 

This hole it left is about 4 feet deep.

But those aren't very deep roots for a tree that size. That said in my most expert tree person voice.

I don't have a deep philosophical discussion in my head about all this. I just know if a big wind hits an oak at just the right time and angle and trajectory, that thing is gonna tump and go kerplunk. It's a terrible thing to lose a tree this size, but in no time flat that tree went down. It never ceases to amaze me when I see something like this. 

It rained in the night/morning on Wednesday. That matters to this final story.

Yesterday John and I discussed whether or not it had rained enough to make the woods muddy and we both decided it had not. On Thursday afternoon John and I went back to the woods to cut some cypress rounds for me, not sure what I'm gonna do with them, but I wanted them just in case. The girls had ordered our pizza and we were gonna zip into the woods, cut cypress and zip out. And we almost did. Almost. 

We found a piece of cypress and John cut what I wanted. FYI even small cypress rounds are heavy. After the cutting we made it back to the truck and then John decided to go cut a few pieces of wood before we left. He's got the chainsaw fever....then I got a call from Caitlin who informed me they were locked out of the house. All three college educated daughters had gone to get the pizza with not one house key amongst them. I then told John our college educated daughters were locked out and we had to leave, so he gathered his stuff and we hopped in the truck and started to back out. It was then we immediately became stuck in a medium fashion. I say medium because there was still some hope we could get out with a little bit of ingenuity. So John told me to get in the driver's seat and he went to the front of the truck to try to push us out. It was then that we became a little more than medium stuck. So I called the girls and told them we were stuck and they felt really sorry for themselves because they couldn't get in the house to eat their supper while we were stuck in the woods. 

While I was having this conversation John was looking around for some flat pieces of wood to wedge under the tire for traction. Once he had everything in place he went to the front of the truck and said, "Put it in 2 and hit the gas." I immediately said, "Isn't 2 gonna make it go forward?" (Knowing it would but I asked anyway.) Now John doesn't have too many blonde moments, but that sure was one. And he said, "Yeah put it in reverse." Thank you to me for not killing him. It still stuns me. 

So I put it in reverse and hit the gas and the wheels started spinning and he yelled, "Stop! You're smokin the tread off my tires!" That statement, while I was doing what he told me to do, wasn't annoying at all. Nor was the fact that we had been stuck for about 10 minutes and the girls had not called or come. So I called Caitlin back to discuss it and her response was, "You were serious?!" No not at all...not serious at all. So I hung up...not annoyed in the least. By then it was time again to "smoke the tread" off John's tires while doing exactly what he was telling me to do. And sure enough he said it again. And I thought, can I put the car in 2 this time? 

After a few more attempts to be free, the wood under the tires, plus John's pushing got the truck unstuck. As we were leaving the woods I called to tell the girls we were unstuck....don't know why. And that's when I found out they were STILL at home...their only concern was their inability to get inside the home. For some reason...that sent me over the edge. BUT. THIS was the phone call that guilted Caitlin into ending their pizza party in our carport and come help the people who gave them breath of life. 

Us and God of course.

Exhibit A.

While talking to our eldest I accidentally left out the part about us being unstuck and on our way home. I waited until I was sure they were IN THE CAR and DRIVING AWAY FROM THE HOUSE. Then I told her.

And that was Thursday evening at our house. 

Today it's a blustery chilly day in Louisiana. 

Lets all go get stuck in the woods somewhere.