Just like our poor mango tree, I went to sleep last night blissfully unaware of what was going to happen this morning. Apparently there was a storm last night. I'm told it was pretty bad. Apparently the tree came down before 5 am. But as today was my day off and I did not set an alarm, no storm was going to wake me! I remained soundly sleep while all the neighbours worried, explored, took photos and wondered where we were.
By 9 am, our landlord had already been notified (complete with multiple pictures) by the neighbours, and men with chainsaws were ready to start hacking through the tree to rescue my car, which the eagle-eyed among you may have spotted under the tree above! At this point they finally shouted for me and I jumped out of bed, got dressed and went out to be greeted by this sight. I didn't understand why everyone was so calm and even jovial about it, I guess they had had hours to get over the initial shock! Erin then comes out, saying she had been awake since 7 am, only she'd had headphones in!! While she talked to the landlord, I phoned my insurance company.
Within the hour, the whole tree was chopped up and my car emerged... unscathed! I was almost afraid to believe it, it hardly seemed possible. If it had falled a few degrees to the left, our house would've had a tree embedded in it. A few degrees to the right and my car would have been totalled. God knew it was going to go, and He sent it along the one safe line - 10 degrees out of 360! Soon after that, I was told the neighbour 'Uncle' had called for a truck from the local council - it arrived blaring my favourite Thai song. It felt more like a party than a disaster, as they piled the bits of tree into the truck.
Just as people finally dispersed and I put the kettle on for tea I heard neighbour Aunty sweeping the leaves outside the house. I realised with a sinking feeling that tea, breakfast, a shower would all have to wait. We had looked lazy enough getting out of bed late. So as she opened the gate and came in complete with broom and black bin-bags, we sheepishly went back out, got our brooms and started the clean-up of our garden, drive and street. That was when Aunty said, "Your God really protected you! We may not believe it, but we can see it's true." Praise Him!! Amazing Father!
A trip to the insurance company was next - they would cover any damage. However, the trip to the garage confirmed there was no damage except minor scratches! So I decided a proper clean was in order, as the car had had a rough day...
By 2 pm, there it was, shining in the sun boasting of God's protection. The scratches will just remind me of my Dad's love. How appropriate that yesterday was Father's Day. Instead of me giving Him a gift, He gave me one! A gift so amazing that all the neighbours want to buy lottery tickets with my registration number... I tell them they'd be better off just asking for God's blessing!
Now I thought this was the end of the tree-car saga. I went to show a friend the scratches and ask him if he thought I should do anything about them. Driving back to the house at 5 pm, I found Uncle there, machete in hand, hacking away at the stump. Apparently it just couldn't be left there. This of course turned into another community event, as 2 other men joined the effort to pull out the stump. By 6:30 pm with a lot of hacking and pulling on the count of 1,2,3; it was out! I thanked him with some money and fruit (instead of the whiskey and cigarettes he asked for) and praised God for the end of the story, at least for today.Never a dull moment. A couple of weeks ago, we think the house was struck by lightning. We bought a new router. Life goes on. ;)
