I heard from Mom’s cousin Patty this week. She lives in New Hampshire and emailed that they were under a weather alert to watch for tornados. Tornadoes in New England. Crazy stuff!

Here in southern Indiana, we had some wicked thunderstorms a few days later. It’s been very hot and those pop-up storms came and went all night.

“That Mother Nature – she’s sure in a mood!” I might have said to Farmer Gary more than once.

As a Tiller of Soil and Feller of Trees, Gary keeps a close eye on the weather.

And apparently so did Grandpa Vayo. One hundred years ago!

Here he is:

While digging around on Ancestry.com today, I drifted over to Newspapers.com. Of all things, I found a poem Grandpa wrote a full century ago – there it was in the Lewiston (Maine) Sun-Journal. Page six. Top of the page.

Moods of the Storm

I heard the wind howl past my door,
As tho all hell he would restore.
He banged the shutters – tried the latch –
Laid havoc in my garden patch.
I shuddered.

I heard the wind sing past my door.
On heavenly wings his songs did soar.
He sang of childhood memories –
Of starlight nights and reveries.
I smiled and dreamed.

I heard the wind moan past my door.
He cursed the rich – bewailed the poor.
He chanted songs of sickly death,
And told sad tales in sobbing breath.
I wept.

I heard the wind rap at my door,
‘Twas just a tap and nothing more.
My heart leaped up – I understood.
‘Twas Springtime in the field and wood.
I rejoiced.

I heard the wind hum thru the door.
My room was filled as ne’er before
With wordless, silent songs of love –
My heart communed with God, above.
I prayed.

~ Harold E. Vayo, November 24, 1924, Lewiston, Maine Sun-Journal

Three months after printing Grandpa’s poem, the paper ran this additional blurb:

I wish I knew if Grandpa and Grandma had met by November of 1924, when his poem was published. Grandma also worked at Peck’s Department Store in Lewiston. Maybe that’s where she and Grandpa met? They married two years later.

Thank you for the beautiful poem, Grandpa. All these years later, you’re still enriching our lives.

“Moods of the Storm” © November 24, 1924 Harold E. Vayo. All rights reserved.

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