Spring Storms

I went over to help out at my parents' house today.  Mom has been having back trouble and is just beyond going.  She is in such constant pain it hurts me to watch her.  When I got there, my daughter, Bridgette was already there with her daughters and Mom and Daddy had trouped out to her therapy session.  Bridgette, Lillie, and Lydia had already dusted all the furniture in the house.  So, that left the floors to clean, the fridge to clean out, and a few other pick-up-and-straighten-up tasks to do.  Plus, Mom's flower beds were overgrown in weeds - something we would never see if Mom were not feeling poorly.

Knowing that a spring storm was headed our way, we decided to zip outside to work on the flower beds.  Bridgette began by attacking one area like she was killing snakes and she never let up till the storm rolled in.  It didn't take her long to fill a five-gallon bucket full of weeds and dead twigs.  I had almost a full bucket from the area where I was working.  So, I tromped off to Daddy's tool shed to get the lawn tractor and cart.  Of course, it was in the shed behind a couple of other things.  Then, when I got it out - every tire on both pieces of equipment needed air - isn't there always something like this so that nothing is just a quick little chore?  Being the first time the equipment was used this season, of course it needed some maintenance!  Anyway, by the time I got back to the yard with the cart for us to dump our weed buckets into, Bridgette had pulled another huge pile of weeds!

We wound up pulling enough weeds out of about half Mom's flower beds to fill the cart heaping full twice - Bridgette pulling the lion's share - before the thunder began to rumble and big drops of rain began to fall.  (I think Bridgette and I were thrilled to see the storm roll in so we could stop!)  I quickly dumped the cart and trekked back to the tool shed.  I got pretty damp on my walk back to the house from the tool shed.  Then, the bottom dropped out! 

At first there was just big drops of fast-falling rain - a typical spring shower.  Then, there were a few pings on the tin roof of the house and barns and little pecks at the windows where the hail was hitting.  Finally, there was hail falling and bouncing round everywhere!  Lillie commented that it looked like popcorn popping. 

Here is what it looked like peeking out the back door.

(I don't know what that glowing loop at the side of the photo is, though.)

We stood at the back doors and watched for several minutes.  The hail was only about marble sized but it was really coming down fast!

The shot below shows Mom's rose garden (and doesn't it look beautiful and weed-free?) with hail beginning to pile up.  Also, notice the crevices between the pavers of the patio.

You can also see on the horizon how the rain shower was pelting down at that point.  The temperature quickly changed from a muggy, humid, sweaty hot to a cool, damp, breezy chill.

Here is a closer look at the weed-free rose garden...

The little pellets and marbles of hail quickly piled up and more kept bouncing around.  (Guess who weeded this area?  Of course, I went over it once and dumped my bucket.  Then, when I came back, I could hardly tell I had done anything.  So, I crept over it again.  It is no wonder that my mother has always been in good physical shape - or that now her body is wearing out!  Keeping things looking like a National Park around there is hard work!)

Here is a better shot of the patio and how the hail rolled to a stop between the pavers.

Take a look just beyond the patio area, past the table, toward the bird bath.  Look at all the little hail piled up there!  (Notice I'm not bragging on that area so much?  Guess who weeded that area over on that end?  Nope, not me!  It does look really good, though!) Also, notice how it is still pouring rain.

Almost looks like a dusting of snow there doesn't it?

The power went out at about the time I finished shooting these photos.  So, we couldn't vacuum the floors or work on cleaning out the fridge.  It seemed like a good time to nap to me and I climbed into a recliner and dozed a bit.  When Daddy dashed down to the house from where he was working to repair a tractor, the power had just gone out.  When he came into the house, little Lydia asked him if he had gotten scared with the thunder and lightning and gave him a hug.  What a sweety!  All-in-all I think a bit over two inches fell during that hour.  Then, the electric company got the power restored and we swished around cleaning before we departed for home.

Everything seemed greener - almost like the nitrogen in the hail was already working!  The air was fresher, the temperature was cooler, and the world seemed like a cleaner place.  I love a good spring storm!  (especially when it gets me out of pulling weeds!)