Blow me away

It's incredibly windy today, here in the southern Great Plains. Sustained winds at 30-40 mph, gusts to 50 mph and occasionally higher.

The good:
Amazing power of the wind. The sound. The rocking water in the toilet bowls, both upstairs and down. The brownish sky and foggy look, due to so much Texas and Oklahoma dirt pulled into the air. I wonder what it looks like a thousand feet up; down here it's dimming the sunlight, which is always amazing.

In south winds our house really gets hit, because the south exposure is two stories high, perched at the top of a downward sloping landscape that extends from our back yard across the open neighborhood park and the rest of the development (we see only rooftops), and all the way to the unseen river a mile or so away. We can see the southern horizon unobstructed by houses or trees. At night we see twinkling small-town lights along the horizon. So, nothing between us and a strong south wind. In spring and fall, with a few windows open, wind literally whistles, loudly, through the house!

The bad:
Pieces of our roof shingles in the street and front yard on the north side of the house. One whole section of shingle. High sustained winds expected to continue at least all day. The shingles on the small south-facing part of the roof are really being whomped and lifted up by this intense south wind with even higher gusts.

The ugly:
We called our handyman and will check our homeowner's insurance policy too. The roof is just old enough that we only got 50 percent coverage. After our nonmortgage debt is fully paid off this year, we will start saving for a new roof. For now, we hope repair will be enough.

The wind isn't nearly as exciting now, sigh.