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We had just arrived in Alabama on Sunday afternoon for a 6-day trip, and got a call that our house, among many others, had been hit by a huge amount of baseball-size hail, our skylights and some windows were shattered, the power was out, and our birds were at risk. Seven dear friends and family showed up and saved the day while we struggled to return to OKC. Other friends showed up to help after we got home. Destruction turned into recovery and joyous time with friends.
Thank you to the Magnificent 7 - Suzette, Cheryl, Kent, Scott, Wil, Linda and George - and the Plus 3 - Ginny, Doug, Kathy - and to Ann, Charlie, Cindy, and Zina for helping us to get home!

While we were still in Alabama, our dear friends were "covering" for us. Scott is starting with a flourish. (Photo by Cheryl)	You can see where giant hailstones have punched through the siding above the garage. You can see some of the hail in the pickup and on the driveway. (Photo by Cheryl)	Wil joins the fray.	This was the scene we arrived to find Monday night at 10:45pm.	Glad Steve wasn't working his crossword puzzle...
Nice tarp job...	I cannot imagine the wind and the force of the hail that blew through this.	Yuck.	Next morning bright and early, Steve is further battening down.	Getting rid of the rest of the jagged skylight pieces.
Ginny showed up early and already has much of the front yard raked into piles.	Kathy showed up and "pitched" right in...	Picking window glass out of the border!	Yea, Kent! He and Cheryl boarded the birds through the fiasco, and returned them as well!	Phoebe is grateful...
And Gypsy must be grateful as well, she is not biting Kent!	Back at home, but in a new room (one without open air exposure...)	Steve has a plan for all those leaves...	And we begin feeding "the beast" (chipper-shredder).	Both Doug and Ginny get in on the act.
At the end of a *long* day...	But look at all the mulch they have to show for it!	Wednesday, inspecting the roof, it is like some piece of abstract art...	The big skylight and the poor shingles...	And this is one of the *better* looking roofs in the neighborhood!
One of several styles of covering a broken window (the roofers did this one)	That must have been some hail... this was our security siren...	This hawthorn bush was full of leaves and flowers a couple of days ago.	The trumpet vine was huge and green...	You cannot see two flower bed borders and a path, but you can see one lone surviving rose blossom...
The rock patio is still buried under all that!	A wisteria with no leaves in May??	The poor trellis was bashed through the top, and you would never know the beautiful clematis vines and climbing roses that were in full bloom until this.	This was our gigantic honeysuckle vine (I suspect it will come back - sigh...)	This enormous willow tree was so full and green.
All that is left of the waterlily leaves is shreds.	The purple martin house fared no better than ours...	Someone has found the silver lining in all this!

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