Now That Was a Storm

Man, did it ever storm over night. Mindy must’ve woken me some time just before midnight. No rain, but lots and lots of lightning & thunder. The tornado sirens were blaring too. She asked if we should get the kids and head to the basement. While still wiping sleep from my tired eyes, I fumbled for the TV remote in an effort to tune in into the weather radar. It appeared that a major thunderstorm was taking dead aim on our area. And this one was beyond red. It was Prince purple! Initially, I discouraged the thought of heading downstairs, but once the kids woke to the loud, clapping thunder I suggested that we might. Just as we all made our way through the kitchen the front moved through bringing with it extreme winds and heavy, heavy rains. Mindy & the kids went immediately to the basement. I stayed back searching desperately for the downstairs TV remote. Of course, any other time it would’ve been right there on the arm of the family room chair. Not tonight. However, I stayed diligent and eventually found it tucked between the sofa cushion and frame. The storm was giving us a pounding. There was even popcorn size hail thrown in, and the rain was pouring off the roof like a water fall. I soon switched from the local radar to the local TV stations. They were on full alert doing their usual sensationalizing. Cutting through the crap I could see that the scary part of the storm was just moving past us even though we were still in the red, which is still pretty significant in its own right. A few minutes later, Mindy & the kids returned upstairs where we all sat and watched the weather news for 20 minutes or so. Mindy eventually coaxed the kids back to bed even though we knew there was more on the way, as evidenced by the radar. We’d at least have a 30 minute break. I must’ve woken another three or four times through the night as wave after wave passed through our area. With each incident, we were joined in bed by the children. The last storm passed through just before dawn, or about 5am. I crawled from bed at 5:40am. I was exhausted after waking so many times. I eagerly flipped on the radar all the while I began my calisthenics. It looked as if the rough stuff was now history. Furthermore, the forecast called for a quick clearing. That made me happy. After all, this was the perfect summer storm. Storm over night – sunshine in the morning! Though, I must admit, that storm was a bit more intense than what I typically like. The pond was up really high. This I noticed as Ykraps and I walked by on our usual morning stroll. Other than wet walks and streets, there was no evidence of storm damage anywhere to be seen. Good! Back at home I sipped my first cup of coffee in front of the PC. I must’ve sat there for a good 20 minutes – a little longer than maybe I should have. I didn’t finish meditating until 6:35am. And by the time I dressed and stretched for my run it was nearly 6:45am. The good news was that the sky was clearing. I ran simply in shorts. It was 72 degrees and extremely balmy. It felt terrific. I ran four miles snubbing any worry about the time. It was a great run, and I felt really good beginning to end. Back inside I immediately began prepping lunch and breakfast. Lunch was easy. Mindy already had a garden salad resting in the fridge and my nuts were already to go. All I had to do was add salad dressing and some turkey slices, and then prep my fruit medley. After frying a couple of eggs I was drawn to the backyard. I slipped on my shoes and headed out the rear door and into the steamy sunshine. Just as I was picking up some fallen begonia flower heads to place in the bird bath, I remembered that I had left my sprinkler pump out for a second night. Crap! Not only did it get rained on, but there was a remote chance that it was swept away by the high water. All my fears were abated when I saw it resting safely in its spot. It was wet, though, something I shouldn’t have allowed. I quickly disconnected it and toted it into the garage. I decided to let it dry before checking it. It should be OK. I took Mindy her coffee before getting into the shower. I made quick work of my prep. I was ready to go by 8:05am. Given the weather forecast, I elected to drive the BM’er again today. There were strong storms projected for late afternoon but I figured what the heck. It would be sunny and hot most of the day. Work was exceptionally busy. I stayed after it until 1:15pm or so. At that point I left for lunch with a mission. I wanted to make two stops – Play It Again Sports & Kroger. Meanwhile, it was the first steamy day in quite a while. The temperature hovered just below 90 and the humidity was noticeably high. It felt great! I stopped at Play It Again first. I went in and fetched a Hilliard Youth Football sign-up form. I was surprised to see that the regular sign-up period had already expired. Now, if we sign Jacob up, we’ll have to pay a $25 late fee in addition to the $105 required for all players. However, I snapped off an email to the Youth Football commissioner yesterday. He asked that I call him on his cell. I planned to do that later this afternoon. Application in hand, I headed just a few store fronts down and into Kroger. I went to Kroger to p/u a couple of my favorite libations – Jack Daniels and Raspberry Vodka - to have on hand for brother Glenn’s visit. I was gone only about 25 minutes max. I ate my packed lunch soon after I returned to the office. I was really hungry. The afternoon went by in a flash. Mindy let me know that we were hosting a cookout with the neighbors at 6:30pm after seeking their interest in a possible Lake Norris trip. There was a big back-up on I-270, so I took the back way home. It was slow, too, but at least we weren’t sitting still. By the time I got home from work it was after 6pm. I was totally overcome with sleepiness. That happens many times on my drive home. I went straight for a nap. Mindy seconded that. Bless her! I knew that if I didn’t get a quick nap that I wouldn’t be much fun for the cookout. She walked Ykraps and grilled the meat – two things I’m sure she had in mind for me. I appreciated the assist. That’s another reason why we work. I slept for about 20 minutes and felt 10 times better afterwards. Mindy had the kids settled at a fold-up table out on the deck. Soon Mike & Teri arrived with their contribution – beans and cake. We each fixed our plates and met up on the deck. The food was delicious and the company outstanding. We had fun! Meanwhile, those late afternoon storms looked like they were heading our way again. A look at the radar confirmed it. 10 minutes later we moved everything indoors and cleaned up our outdoor mess. Neighbor Crissy came over and joined us as well. Kenny would come over later. He was at an appointment with his daughter. He arrived 5 minutes later. We sat around inside eating cake and talking about this and that. Mike & Teri were still up in the air about the Lake Norris trip. We told them we’d like to know their status within one week so we can plan accordingly. The once eminent storm seemed to pull one of those I-270 splits with some going north while the rest went south of us. Unbelievable! No one was sad, however. We’ve had more than our share of rainfall lately. As darkness approached, we ended up back out on the deck, where neighbor Teri gave all the kids sparklers. She had six boxes. They burned through them quickly. Mindy went for the safer glow stix next. That kept the kids entertained until dark, that and the lightning bugs. Meanwhile, the mosquitoes were terrible. I was getting eaten alive, and so were most others. We bagged it just before 10pm. A few of us had to work in the morning. That’s the trouble with weekday cookouts. Mindy gave the kids a “Tippler” bath before tucking them safely into bed. Afterwards, I edited some of the last week’s writing but didn’t get anything posted. I’m caught up in one respect but behind in another. We chatted as we so often due before the two of us headed off for bed. I was sleepier than I’ve been at bed time in a long, long while.