The tornado blew through during the night so  the result would not be seen until sun-up.  There was very little damage in the neighborhood except  in one yard on a sharp  “S” curve that was  designated by SLOW CURVE signs both coming and going.  It was a dilly of a curve and even teenagers hit their brakes.  So it was with a bit of wry humor that drivers really did slow down when they saw what the tornado had left for them to stare at, jaws agape.  There had been no slowing down for the storm, though, that did its thing and heeded  no signs.

From one end to the other of a low-slung ranch style  house lay a gigantic oak tree.  One end  extended slightly into the street , the other was an eight foot wide root system that had  not,  if ever, seen sunlight.  The tree had totally missed hitting the house and now errant branches brushed the shingles as they swayed in the breeze.  It was mind-numbing to try to visualize the power and speed  required to yank such an unyielding mass from deep below the surface of the lawn.

Word traveled quickly through the nearby town and soon cars were lined up for half a mile to ooh and aah and tsk over this phenomenon.  The high school football coach quickly assembled his team, even the second stringers, and bussed them out to stand atop the horizontal trunk for a memorable picture.  It would appear in the afternoon paper and make its way to nearby towns which didn’t have a  tornado of their own to write about.  When the boys dismounted other eager would-be publicity seekers climbed aboard.  Soon blue-clad members of the police force showed up and unrolled tape around the green monster.  There would be no broken bones on their watch.  The traffic kept coming and they doubled their manpower.  There was a feeling of “holiday” in the air and they kinda liked this big wind duty.  They stayed at their posts until dusk when the owners turned out  the lights which signaled, “You all go  home now and let us get some sleep.”

The spring night was unusually balmy so they opened their bedroom windows and in country vernacular “hit the hay.”  The man of the house slept fitfully and awoke several times with a distinct feeling of impending “something”, but shrugged it off as residual shock of losing his beautiful oak tree.  From the yard he heard rustling branches and visualized night creatures getting a closer look at the damage.  He was up unusually  early the next morning and glanced out the front door at yesterday’s destruction.  He rubbed his eyes and looked again, then called to his wife who was pouring coffee.  “My Lord, Addie,” he said, I can’t believe this, come see.”  Addie rushed to his side  and was a shocked as he.  She dropped her cup, saucer and all.  There, right in plain view stood (yes, I said STOOD) the great old oak, branches swaying gently in the morning breeze.  The lawn near the now reburied roots looked as if it had been ploughed, but other than that it was beautiful again and all was right with the world.

“God be praised,” the man declared, then got on the phone and called everyone he knew and some he didn’t.  He even called the newspaper and was promised they’d get a  photographer out right away.  Word again traveled at supersonic speed and here the traffic came…again.  A local tree farm sent a representative out to confirm this miracle and he stood for quite awhile, chin in hand, looking up and down and all around then declared, “I know why this tree righted itself.”  The owner, all ears and curiosity, approached the man and said, “I’ve owned this tree since I was a boy and it feels like it’s part of my family.  “I’ve gotta know, did God play a part in this miracle?”

“Well, yes and no”, the man replied.  “Right in the center of that huge root system you saw yesterday there is what is called a taproot.  It is the primary water supplier to that monster of a tree.  When the tree was uprooted the taproot was not entirely yanked from the ground, its tip stayed below where it just kept sucking up water and doing what it has always done, sending it to  upper branches.  Sometime during the night things started working again and all the tree’s strength was revitalized and slowly but, as you can see, surely, it started to raise itself into an upright position. It took all night for that to  happen but you see the result right there in front of us.  So, you see, it was both nature and God working together to bring this about.  But that’s what usually happens in our business.  We see it every day…They go hand in hand.”

Tears flowed freely as the tree owner hugged his wife and patted his childhood friend, the oak.  Just think,  he mused,  we  just might be together for another 50 years.  Down the street cars were making “U” turns and drivers were expressing their displeasure…”Nothing going on here” one said, “no tree down, nothin.  I’m going to go home and go back to bed.”     …….and so it goes.

FYI…This really did happen in my hometown, one block from my grandparent’s house.