Mother Nature can be a real bi&ch

Anyone who has lived in Indiana at least four seasons knows how unpredictable the weather can be. A May snowstorm is entirely within the realm of possibility, as is a 60-degree Christmas Day. To save my sanity, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about temperatures or precipitation. But I sat up and took notice last summer. Here's what got my attention:

Rain and wind did this. Crazy.

A high school classmate of mine posted this photo on Facebook in late June. Once uprooted, the mature tree fell onto her Fort Wayne house. Luckily, no one was injured, and the damage has been repaired. Still, I couldn't stop staring at the photo. Did a tornado touch down in Heather's front yard? If not, how on Earth did that happen?

Believe it or not, the destruction was the result of days of soaking rain followed by strong wind. Not even build-an-ark rain or hide-in-the-basement wind. Just rain and wind.

A few miles up the road at my parents' house, several of the pine trees planted in 2001 acquired a distinct lean at the same time. And my stepdad's front-yard pine -- his pride and joy when decked out with lights in December -- snapped in half. Crazy stuff.

So now I pay a little more attention to the weather, and I have great respect for the power that Mother Nature wields. Even if she can be a bitch sometimes.
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This post was written as part of the Think Kit blogging project. The prompt (from yesterday):

In Your Eyes: Share a photo or paint us a picture with words. Show us something from your year through your eyes. Did you see something that took your breath away? Or maybe you just couldn't look away?