Wow, the weather has been wild around here. There were windstorms in parts of Colorado that pulled full-grown trees right out of the ground. Here in Greeley we haven’t had any problems other than a lot of leaves being blown around.

The other day my husband and I were out and about when the sky darkened and the wind started to blow. We rushed home and parked the truck in the garage in case of hail and covered all of our plants. Of course, because we were ready for the hail, it didn’t come.

I didn’t realize until I moved to Colorado, just how much hail we get here. I’ve never lived anywhere where almost every time it rains it hails.

I am however, familiar with high winds. In North Dakota straight line winds can be devastating, especially in the summer. I remember one storm in northeastern North Dakota where many empty grain bins were damaged by high winds.

One time I was driving home from work and a storm hit. It was so windy and raining so hard that I had to pull over. The wind was blowing so hard that my truck was shaking. Then suddenly something hit the truck and flew across the top of the vehicle. Once the storm passed by and I was able to assess what had happened, I found that a big water tank had hit the truck and made a huge dent in it. This was one of those agricultural water tanks that farmers use when they need to add water to crop protection products. Try explaining that one to your husband, not to mention the insurance company. So I took pictures of my truck and the water tank that had blown onto the porch of a nearby home.

Luckily the insurance company believed my story probably because they had encountered similar incidents in the past in North Dakota. It’s always good to have an insurance company that understands the weather and the hazards in the place where you live.

I guess that’s my bit of wisdom for the week. Let’s hope for calm, hail-free weather for the rest of the summer. ❖