Oer thy prairies verdant growing, Illinois

Yesterday was one of those rainy days that are only pleasant because there has been nonstop ice, snow and cold for the last few weeks. The drops fell, big and fat, against my windshield and I only had to turn on the wipers occasionally in order to be able to see.

By the time I got home it was still raining big, juicy, fat raindrops, but the intensity had really ramped up. I walked the short distance from my car to my door and was literally dripping by the time I got inside. Minutes later my coat was still dripping and the sacks I had covered everything with left puddles on my kitchen counters. I thought it was the most water I had ever carried into the house. Ever!

But later on, while sitting in my living room the rain beat a tattoo on the window that was actually awe inspiring. I didn't know rain could be so intense and still be in drops. Each drop had to fight with the ones around it to hit the window. It was as if someone was throwing infinite buckets of water at my window and they exploded into raindrops as they hit.

I woke up this morning and thought my window was going to explode into my room! I looked up from my bed and could see the heat from a neighbors chimney swirling like a mini dessert mirage above my head. It had stopped raining and started blowing!

The roar of the wind as it dove into the alcove where I live was daunting.

Even more daunting than the rain last night.

This is the Illinois prairie that our ancestors moved into with covered wagons and sod houses and I wonder that they had the courage to stay here. But maybe because it is not a common occurrence, at least not anymore, they didn't know until it was too late.

They had dug their houses out of the land, filled their home with as much food as they could acquire and huddled in for the winter. There was no place to go when the winds swooped across the prairies at fifty miles an hour, so they stayed. And having done it once, and survived, they decided to hang in there and keep on trying.

Only the strongest survived that and we are their ancestors.