Wow, what a storm!
Mid-afternoon today the heat and humidity at Woodsom Farm was thick and soupy. We knew a cell was moving our way, but the 3pm radar made the impending storm look manageable and fleeting. Amesbury Days volunteers busily set up signs and guided vendors to their spots. We assumed that at worst we were in for a 10-minute shower, and at that point we welcomed the thought of a little precipitation and a drop in temperature.
The first inkling that our bunions were wrong came when we talked with the ReMax hot air balloon pilot. He informed us that the FAA had grounded the project for an unforeseen length of time, due to the unsettled atmosphere. Shortly thereafter, the wind shifted and hulking mounds of cumulonimbus clouds bubbled and frothed, darkening the northwest sky and turning our farm from the Shire to Mordor.
Next thing we knew, everyone was running for cover. The cell was directly overhead and building. Walls of rain pommeled our cars and the vendors’ tents. The canopy on Adele Faso’s Maggie Sundae display filled with so much water that it would have collapsed if not for the help she received from fellow vendors. Musicians from the Merrimack Valley Concert Band rushed to shelter their instruments, protect the sound equipment, and find shelter.
Little did we know that during this time, the Amesbury Days website received so many hits that it crashed from the overload. Fortunately, our Facebook team, Kimberly and Frank Czar, phoned us with the news. “Are the fireworks still on?” they asked. “Yes!” we said. They provided an update on the Facebook page, and we got the amesburydays.org site rebooted.
The maelstrom lasted how long? A half hour? Hour? We lost track of time. But as we kept our eyes fixed on the northwest, we saw signs of a break. Slivers of light, then blue sky amidst the gray and ochre. People trickled in, the band began to play, children danced, puffs of mist rose from the creases of the drumlins, and a rainbow appeared in the southeast. We heard the director whisper to his musicians: “Too bad we didn’t rehearse Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
The time is now 9:05pm. This volunteer is back home, drying off and fielding phone calls and emails from fireworks fans hoping to get to the farm in time. Meanwhile, the Lake Attitash Association volunteers are still working, crusted in mud, to solicit donations for Amesbury Days and lake cleanup.
God bless America…and God bless good friends and helping hands. We couldn’t have gotten through the storm otherwise. Once again, Amesbury showed what it’s made of. And it’s all good.
– kate broughton