Severe Thunderstorms Hit The Arklatex

I've never lived up north.  Really haven't even traveled up there much, so I'm not too sure about how much damage a "snow storm" can bring to an area, but here in God's Country, in the Deep South, we certainly know that Spring brings on Severe Thunderstorms and Tornadoes, and the damage they bring costs literally hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, each year. 

Yesterday's storm seem to come from nowhere.  I mean, it was sunny and in the 70's one minute and then raining sideways with wind over 30 mph the next.  At one point over 10,000 Swepco customers were without power.  And one of my favorite oak trees was victimized by Old Mother Nature as well.  This one was a beautiful pin oak, sitting right next to our pond.  By my way of thinking, it was probably pushing 60 years old, but yesterday was its final day.  And not only did the wind take it down, it managed to fall on another one of my smaller oaks next to it and broke that one too.  I know this might sound trivial to most, but I really loved that tree.  I sat in its shade hundreds of days and fished in the pond.  While I fished, I'd spend hours just thinking; solving all of life's problems.  Now my old "friend" will spend its final days in our wood rack only to wind up in the fire place.  Why my old oak?  We've got hundreds of sweet gums that I'd love to see gone, but not my oak.  Oh well, its kinda like my Uncle Gary once said, "If sweet gums ever get to be worth something, I guess all of mine will die."  Gonna miss that old oak.