April 8th 2014 Daily Report
The Tuesday report is a first person account by our associate pastor, Jen:
Our Tuesday story involves a nest. A giant, tangled nest of brush, fallen trees, and pieces of debris. The nest stretched across the length of a couple's property, which is 10 acres in total. On our first day, we drove up and were greeted by Michelle, the property owner, who told us she and her husband and their Great Dane Cassie were slowly rebuilding their home and their lives after last year's destruction. Thankfully, the giant tangled nest was the last of their major cleanup projects. In addition to over 50 trees, they lost a barn, a vehicle, and one wall of their house. She told us they had been lucky—several neighbors had lost animals and suffered much more extensive property damage in the tornado that was over 1 mile wide. She told us that a horse shelter had been established because so many abandoned or lost horses had been found roaming the area. Sadly, many of the horses are still unclaimed, most likely because their owners had moved away or were no longer able to afford caring for the animals. Michelle walked us through the tangled nest of trees and pointed out places where fallen trees obstructed the property's fence. We spent Monday clearing brush, using chain saws to cut trunks into firewood, and clearing a path through the wooded nest.
Tangled Nest
On Tuesday, we continued making our brush piles and stacking the freshly cut firewood. During our lunch break, we decided to drive a few miles to Thunderbird State Park and eat beside the water. We sat down at picnic tables and for the first time on the trip, truly felt the magnitude of that famous Oklahoma wind! We could hardly hear one another over its roar! On the drive home, we passed a newly born calf, laying under its mother, umbilical cord and placenta still visible! Of course we had to pull over and take photos...but that's when we noticed the calf wasn't moving. After several minutes, we began to get nervous. “Shouldn't it be walking by now? Or at least moving?” It appeared that no one was home at the farm. Just as we were about to lament what we assumed was a stillbirth, the mother cow began vigorously licking the calf, and it lifted its head. We began cheering and whipped out our cellphones for photos and videos! Amidst our cooing and squealing, we watched the calf take what we believe were its first steps! It was magical. The magic continued when suddenly a small cat came tearing across the field toward our car. Much to our surprise, the cat ran straight up to the passenger side and began to meow. “Should we let it in?” Andrea asked. We began to giggle nervously and opened a car door. The cat JUMPED IN and pranced happily around the car, making the rounds across our laps and settling proudly on the steering wheel.
The Newborn
The Magical Cat
After saying goodbye to our farm friends, we headed back to Michelle's property and continued our work, yanking tangled roots and branches from the ground, sawing up trunks, and piling brush. And then we met some much less friendly creatures. They were Moore ticks, then more ticks. After noticing a few small ticks on my shoulder and on Claire's pants, we did a thorough examination and discovered about 40 ticks inside my sweatpant legs! Luckily we seemed to have been the only two who had found these new “friends” on us.
Searching for Ticks
The magic returned when Andrea found herself deep in the tangled brush and said to herself, “I wish I had a saw right now.” A few moments later, she was shocked to find....you guessed it...a saw, laying perfectly untouched among the gnarled branches! We figure the saw was either left by a previous cleanup crew or had been dropped there by the tornado. Either that, or there is literal truth in Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you.”
Since Claire, Andrea, Ashley, and I will be leaving Oklahoma tomorrow, we were sad to say goodbye to Michelle and Cassie. We were uplifted by Michelle's positive attitude and friendly disposition, and we exchanged mutual thanks with her for the experience of working on her property.