I sometimes drive home past Thunderbird, and every time I can’t help but think about the areas surrounding the lake that got hit by that huge twister last year.

The school has rebuilt as have most of the businesses. There’s still an empty spot where a church once stood though. Some houses have been rebuilt. Some folks moved in trailers.

The woods will never be the same though. There’s no-one to clean that up. You just drive by twisted remains of trees. Many with twisted metal embedded in them. Very messy and sad really.

Then I wonder about the boats that were housed on the lakefront. What happened to those boats? Were they covered by their own owners insurance or the storage facility? How many angered boat owners hired a Maritime Lawyer? Most of the boats in one location were splintered. Life vests floated to the shoreline.

So much destruction by one storm. So sad.

People are lifting themselves up out of the mess. The local grocery store just reopened, bigger and better than ever. I saw a new house going up to replace one taken in the storm and it’s bigger and better.

People are making progress. Just slowly.