The roof overhead

 Any mention of the Davis sod house, would be incomplete without the following incident.  Birdie and Norman both wrote of it in their histories; I'm sure it was an experience that left a mark.

From Birdie who would have been about 7 years of age at this time:

One summer night a storm came up and during the rain, hail and wind we experienced our first tornado. It stormed so badly that our roof was ripped off. As already stated it was a mud and tarp roof, and with little imagination one would know of the mess and turmoil the family found themselves in during the middle of the night. The kitchen was the gathering place, and after the first excitement, mother began checking children only to discover that Floyd was missing. He was still in bed with the mud all over him, even in his ear, but it hadn’t wakened him. He being only a toddler, we dug him up and took him into the kitchen with the rest of us bundled up in blankets huddled around like a tribe of Indian papooses. At the time it wasn’t funny, but to look back on it as all experiences become, one has to smile at the picture. The mess was something to clean up; however, the neighbors came from all directions to help. As soon as we could get the material for the roof, we had a wonderful experience of neighborly help in the roof raising.

 Norman's memories - he would have been about 4 years old:

The storms on the Colorado prairies – rain, hail, wind or snow – with no trees or mountains to check the force, can be severe. One night a real storm with rain, hail and wind, struck the ranch. The sod roof was torn from the main part of the house, leaving the bare boards. In minutes the rooms were flooded and the beds soaked. Quickly we fled to the lean-to kitchen and huddled there, awaiting the end of the storm. Suddenly we heard crying, and found Floyd, the toddler, had been left behind in the rain-soaked bed.  The next day the neighbors came in, in true neighborly fashion, and helped cut sod for a new roof, and we were quickly back in our soddy home. 

Although funny now, I cannot imagine Della's fear and concern when she discovered that her baby - probably less than 18 months old - was missing.  And then, imagine the mess to clean up . . .