The Storm

I woke this morning at 4 AM to the sound of rain pounding down on my tent. Initially I thought I was imagining it, but I quickly realized I wasn't. Pretty soon the storm advanced from rain to howling winds. I have had some difficulty with my tent recently, since the end broke off of one of the poles. After I repaired it, it was almost like new, but the storm definitely put it to the test. The winds were so strong; by 6 AM, the darkening tarp I have secured over my tent with heavy rocks was whipped off. I didn't want to spend the time out in the rain to re-position the tarp on top of my tent, but ventured out to pile extra rocks on top of the tarp--now lying on the ground--so it wouldn't completely fly away. I returned to my tent for another couple hours to ensure that it weathered the storm. Without the extra support of the tarp, the rain fly could only do so much and wind whipped rain up and under the edges of the fly, misting everything inside. Although the tent bucked wildly in the wind for the rest of the morning (and I am a bit worse for the ware) the tent is still standing ...