I'm Woman, Hear Me Roar, by: Kathe Campbell
I'M WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR
by: Kathe Campbell©copyright, all rights reserved
July 25, 2005
Last evening, Corky and I and the kitties retired after being scared away from the computer with sheets of rain, lightening and thunder bumpers. At 8:00 p.m., the skies were dark and heavy, unfit for man or beast on my Montana mountain. The donkeys had fled to their barn, so I locked up and made rounds with cheery chatter. Animals like singing and upbeat sounds when things seem tense. Old Thor crashed and rumbled as my big brave dog and a bunch of scardy cat felines clung to their old mom like there'd be no tomorrow. Let a bear wander around these grounds and Corky is all macho and full of heroics keeping us safe and sound. Let there be one little thunder bumper and he melts into a puddle of terror.
I find myself the keeper of Broken Tree Ranch's flame these days, so we all jumped in bed for chin-choppers and tummy times. Surely you're up to speed with me on that one, or haven't I educated you yet? Noisy torrents of rain finally ended and everyone settled into their own favorite places. Except Cork. He wanted comfort and I'm the gal who lavishes it.
Sleepily watching late local news between my toes, Cork shook the bed while scratching a pesky itch. But there was nary a flea. He was sprawled out prone staring at me through panicky big black wide-open lenses. God Almighty, but it was a trembler like we used to have on the west coast when I was a kid. They were earth shaking then and nothing had changed. We had nowhere to hide.
Two ceramic ducks perched atop my armoire came flying down to land safely on the carpet. The kitties had disappeared and Cork had given in to his demise as he lay horror stricken ogling my every move. But, there were no moves, just prayers to the good Lord that we wanted to stop and get off now. Finally the weather man divulged that he believed southwest Montana was in the midst of an earthquake. Well duh...
The quake stopped suddenly after what seemed minutes, when in actuality it was a mere 5.6 for 20 seconds. This mountain is only 13 miles from the 12 mile deep epicenter. My Yellowstone and Elk Park families and I commiserated for awhile on the phone comparing notes. There will be great tales to tell very disappointed granddaughters after their return from church camp. A local bar owner said he didn't feel a thing until he saw full beer mugs dancing down the bar. There's a lesson here, but guess I'll not prognosticate the virtues of church camp vs. the local taverns.
I jumped from my bed to check around. The wagon wheel chandelier in the dining room was still swaying some and a ceramic donkey lost an ear as it met up with the kitchen sink. All became still well after the lesser aftershock and welcome sleep enfolded us as the TV droned on until morning. I've discovered I'm learing to be a big girl now despite my almost 73 years of dependence on strong men.
I'm proud to be WOMAN - HEAR ME ROAR!
We are very glad Kathe and her various fur and feather-covered family 'weathered the storm'... or I should say "earthquake", without much incident!
Kathe is learning to face many of life's storms and struggles on her own, for the first time in many years. And she does so with the same pluck that she has always displayed when confronting some of the harder issues that come along in life. And... with the same testimony to her strength and faith, that we have come to know her by so well, regardless of how bad the storm, or how much shaking any earthquake could do, to try to shake her resolve.
And we are certainly glad she comes to share these times with us.
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