Rain Lightning Thunder Flowers & Sun

I was up at 530a. I noticed right away that it was raining – uhhh, actually storming. After brushing my teeth I headed downstairs where I quickly slipped into my exercise shoes then set my gaze out the back door at the rain.

I failed to set-up coffee the night before so I took care of that next. A couple minutes later I was busy whipping out my sit-ups and push-ups. It was raining pretty hard and the radar confirmed that it would continue to do so for a while. I delayed walking Eiknarf until there was a break in the rain. That came sooner than I guessed. We headed out at 6a. It was still raining, but not enough to justify the umbrella. We toughed it out.

We weren’t back home for more than five minutes when it really let loose. And this time it was accompanied by thunder & lightning. There was no way I was heading out for a run in that. I delivered Mindy’s coffee along with the pug around 635a. I was still downstairs contemplating my run and sipping coffee when Mindy came down from her shower. It was darn near 7a. She asked if I was already back from my run.

If I was gonna run before getting the kids on the bus I needed to be getting out the door in a hurry. The rain didn’t let up but the lightning subsided. I decided to head on out a couple minutes later.

I was just short of the two mile mark when a couple lightning strikes spooked me. The thunder was just a couple seconds behind. And that coincided with much harder rain too. Right then I made the decision to cut my run back to three miles. I don’t know that I’ve run any faster than I did covering that final mile. I was genuinely scared.

Mindy was moving the Honda from in front of Dad’s mulch trailer and up in the driveway as I ran by and in the house. It was 728a. Bella came to greet me right away. Said she was worried about me. Gave me a hug, even. Mindy came inside apologizing for not having a towel ready.  In the meantime, I was still trying to catch my breath.

Mindy had my eggs waiting in the microwave. She was all but finished with her own breakfast. Meanwhile, the rain didn’t let up. In fact, if anything, it started raining harder. The lightning, however, became more scattered. Before she left, Mindy reminded Bella to bus home as usual. Reminded me that Jimaken was coming to pick-up Jacob near 8a. Forgot to mention that Jacob was staying home from school ill. He was sporting a fever Sunday night and rules say that they must stay home.

I headed to the shower just ahead of 740a. It didn’t take me long. I was back downstairs and in the kitchen by 755a. I put together my lunch while Bella got in her shoes. It was still pouring rain so we decided to wait for the bus from the comfort of the garage. I still grabbed my umbrella so I could walk her to the bus once it pulled up.

Chrissy and Makayla walked down to join us. Chrissy said Woody needed to poop but hadn’t. Doesn’t like the rain. I took his leash and walked him out front with the aid of my umbrella. He went right away. The bus was about 5 minutes later than usual. Not sure why. She was just sitting down at the end of the street.

I planned on driving the Trooper, my thinking being that I might be taking a trip to the Honda dealership at lunch. It drove fine on Sunday. I really needed to run my dad’s trailer back too, but didn’t want to hitch it up in the pouring rain either. I did take a minute to raise the trailer jack to its highest point to help promote rain drainage.

I left for work at 820a, already five minutes later than desired. The rain was really coming down when I left the house. Traffic was backed up more so than normal at Wilson and Roberts. Last second, I noticed cop cars with their beacons going blocking the freeway entrance ramp. So even though I was in the left hand turn lane, I went ahead and made a right as soon as the light changed and took the back way into the office.  That would’ve been a huge burden.

It wasn’t until I arrived at work did I learn that both directions of traffic were shut down on I-270 between Roberts and

Hilliard Rome Rd.

Apparently a chemical truck tipped over. I sat chatting with my peer for the first hour of the day sorting out our new game plan. Our boss emailed that he wouldn’t be in until 10a. I think it was more like 11a when he finally arrived. He stopped by my office in passing to encourage both my peer and I to bid on this new job. Aside from that, it was a typical Monday.

The heavy storms continued through the morning hours, but as noon time neared the skies cleared out rapidly. The temperature shot right up too. Seeing the unexpected sunshine motivated me to make a lunch time run to Strader’s. I left near 1p. After last week’s Trooper debacle, I've been hyper sensitive to its ongoing operation. It ran fine, however.

At Strader’s I picked up two more hanging geraniums for the two ash tree baskets. I went with fuchsia this go around.  I bought four vinca vines too, and then five cone flowers – 2 white and 3 wildberry. Mindy asked for those. Their wave petunias, I noticed, were well picked over. What remained were ‘spindly’. I’ll most likely make the annual drive to deMonye’s to get some.

I took the time to peruse all of their perennials drinking in the spring/summer flora. Always does my heart good. The sky cleared fully by the time I made it back to the office – just gorgeous.

The afternoon moved along nicely. I enjoyed my packed lunch while working through a handful of issues. I also made arrangements for an internal job interview on Tuesday. Haven’t done that in years. Should be fun.

Talked with Mindy at some point late afternoon. She shared that it was 84 degrees. I let her know about the job interview and the flowers. Said we’d be having her spicy chicken pasta invention for dinner. Sounded good to me. I did my best to wrap up my day and get out on time. I actually left for home about five minutes early.

Traffic on I-270 moved along nicely, although they still had the far right southbound lane closed for the chemical clean-up effort. Word was that that section of freeway was closed for almost 10 hours.

Parked the Trooper in front of the house. Mindy was inside putting the finishing touches on her chicken pasta dish. Jacob was convalescing on the sofa. Said he felt quite a bit better, but still not perfect. Mindy said he still had a very slight fever.

I asked Mindy how much time I had before dinner. Five minutes. I went to the Trooper and carried the flowers I bought earlier around to the deck. I hoped to get them planted after dinner. It was 550p when Mindy served dinner. It looked really good. I asked for a bit more sauce, and so did Bella. Jacob had some too, although he ate very little.

I ate about 3/4s of what Mindy put on my plate. It was an awful lot. I stowed what remained in a Tupperware-type container. Mindy helped get what was left in the pan stowed too, but then left for another trip to the grocery to pick up a few items they were either out of or that she forgot on Saturday. Didn’t expect to be gone long.

I finished kitchen clean-up then headed to the livingroom where I planned to take a brief nap in the recliner. I closed my eyes for a few minutes but never did fall asleep. After sitting quietly for about five minutes I gained my second wind. I headed upstairs where I changed into shorts and t-shirt then headed out to transplant the geraniums into the hanging baskets with the vinca.

New neighbor Trena recently bought a brand new John Deere tractor, but she is still paying a service to mow her lawn. I asked her about it Saturday. She’s intimidated by the mower. Needs some direction. Told her I would be willing to help her. The guy was mowing her lawn while I worked on the flowers.

Mindy got home from the grocery as I was about half way through with the transplanting. She raved about the color of the geraniums. Kenny stopped down a few minutes later. By then the clear blue skies we enjoyed earlier were all but gone. Dark clouds were rolling in again from the west. Can’t say I didn’t expect it. Truth is, I expected the entire day to be a wash.

I told Kenny that I had a company (Junk-King) coming out Saturday to haul away our leaky hot tub. I’m just done screwing with it. Told him it’ll be about $300. He offered to help get rid of it for far less. Not sure how serious he was.

Mindy, Jacob and I sat out on the deck after I finished transferring the geraniums. I’d have to plant the cone flowers another day. I fetched my BB gun and shot at the nasty geese making their way around our yard a few times. Jacob got out his airsoft too. They’re relentless. Near 8p we whistled and hollered for Bella. She eventually came running home. She was instantly on full alert over the stormy looking skies.  And at some point she came rushing to my side crying that she was too young to die. She doesn’t handle thunder storms well at all. I did my best to assure her that she was safe, and so did Mindy.

We tuned to the radar to see what was up. Tornado warnings for Madison, Union, and Logan counties just to our NW.  A narrow band of red was about to move through Franklin county. It hit around 830p and came and went in a hurry. It got really windy for about 2 minutes and then it rained hard for another 20 minutes, but it fizzled out after that. Nothing but gentle rain from there forward.

The four of us settled in on the sofa watching The Universe, and more pointedly, a program about asteroids and meteors. I dosed on & off. Had Bella pinned to my side. She kept elbowing me by accident. Mindy declared it bedtime for the kids at 930p. She headed up herself a couple minutes later. Asked me not to be long.

I look forward to my alone time on the sofa. Nothing feels better than watching TV for the sole purpose of falling asleep. It worked. I was out in less than five minutes. Next thing I knew it was 1030p. I refilled my water glass and headed for bed. Good night rain.