Storm

Today (Saturday) we had lots of straight line winds come through. It was breezy all morning, but in the early afternoon the wind picked up enough that I asked the kids to come inside. Benjamin had been playing soccer with the boys, so Aaron went to find him. As the wind increased, papaya trees around us began to snap in half because they were top heavy with fruit. Just after Aaron got home, the big kapok tree by our house blew over, taking some papaya and banana trees with it but sparing any houses around it. As a family, we gathered around and prayed for our neighbors. We observed many people facing the sea with their knives in their hands. They waved their knives furiously. Later, Daisy told me that the Lavukal wave their knives at the wind and tell it to slow down. It looks like we sustained more damage than anyone else, which is a very good thing.

 

 

I walked down the hill and checked on some of our neighbors. Nobody was hurt and no buildings seemed to be damaged. We are so thankful that God protected each of us during the storm. When I came back up the hill, lots of people stood around our house chatting. Wendy (a girl about Sarah's age) stood up on the kapok tree and let me take her picture so you can see how big the tree was. She later gathered the pods from the tree to take home and make a pillow with the fluffy insides. Because of the storm, the day was wonderfully breezy and cool, and after we put the kids to bed Aaron and I sat on the porch in the dark and enjoyed the pleasant evening.