Once again, OSI has challenged me for this week's prompt. The prompt is ochre. I don't like that word. I don't know why, but I don't. I think I remember it as being a crayon color- one that I never used or felt I had any use for. To double check what the word meant I did look it up and this is what I found:

adj : of a moderate orange-yellow color [syn: ocher] n 1: any of various earths containing silica and alumina and ferric oxide; used as a pigment [syn: ocher] 2: a moderate yellow-orange to orange color [syn: ocher]

Still not loving the word- I did struggle with the prompt this week. Here is my interpretation:

my life, once golden

temporarily lost shine

now is ochre hued

This past Wed. night the Chicago area got hit with some really nasty storms. Our neighoborhood actually had a tornado touch down in it. Our street was spared, but a block and a half over was one of the areas hardest hit. Power was out for a few days and one of my friends just got it back last night after 3 1/2 days without. It was the least destructive kind of tornado, but it was a confirmed one regardless. Luckily, no one was injured; there was some property damage, but the worst of all was the incredible loss of old, very mature trees. Part of our neighborhood's charm was the shady, tree lines streets- now which has been severly compromised. At least 50 of them are now gone- of course never to be replaced and lending a very different look to the surroundings.