Day 2

Two phonecalls informed me this morning that there still was no power at work. On the one hand it's a whole bucket of suck because I won't get paid and we are in the last week of the Beloved's lay-off so we have no income. On the other hand; I might as well enjoy myself on a day of freedom.
Since we are now the proud owners of two bikes (the Beloved's brother gave him one in return for two fixed computers. Such a fab deal!) we decided to go ride around Maple Lake. It was already hot, even before 10, and we saw much more damage from yesterday's storm. At several locations we could hear emergency generators humming and the roads were lined with small branches and leaves. I doubt that there's a single house in Van Buren County that doesn't have branches in front of the house ready for pick-up.
We stopped at Maple Island.
There's a plaque at the entrance that warns people that the Island has a history of being hit by lightning during storms. They aren't kidding.
Several big, sturdy, beautiful trees were felled completely and there's broken branches everywhere. It's such a sad sight. And not just because two trees fell on a picknick table and demolished the jungle gym on the playground; I find it almost intolerably sad to see healthy trees down.
I talked to a vacationing couple who walked around shaking their heads and who wondered if a tornado had hit us. It didn't, but I can understand why they would think so.

The swings won't get used today. All the green you see behind it on both sides is what remains of some lovely trees, and a lovely jungle gym.