As we neared our house in the subdivision, my husband and I found the road completely blocked by two fire trucks, a fire company response vehicle, an ambulance, and a police cruiser. Expecting to see smoke somewhere, we looked at the house which seemed to be the focus of attention. No smoke, but the house did have a ladder leading to the roof and there was a cooler on the roof.
"Christmas decorations," my husband said. I looked quizzically at him, and he went on to explain, "Some people store their Christmas lights in coolers. He fell off the roof."
"Oh, no! How sad," I said. 
Sad that such a joyful thing as Christmas decorations should end up in such an emergency. Yesterday (Tuesday) was a cool, windy day. After a line of deadly tornadoes swept through the Midwest on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday dawned bright and sunny with gusty winds. With rain expected later in the week, Tuesday would have seemed to be an ideal time to do a bit of outside work.
Gusty winds, though, made being on a roof, especially with one's head down, dangerous.
We waited a few minutes for the road to clear and then decided to turn around and enter the subdivision from the back way. As we pulled into the driveway, we heard the sirens of the departing ambulance and police cruiser. I still do not know how the neighbor is doing...
God bless all of those emergency response workers who come to the aid of strangers (our fire department is staffed entirely by volunteers). I have only seen them twice in our rural subdivision (both times for medical emergencies), but they come out in force when called.
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