Sunday, April 13, 2014

A Close Strike


 The thunder and lightning exploded with a red flash outside the window, 
a strike in the front yard during our early morning Palm Sunday storm. 
It was the sort of strike where you know something 
bad might have happened.
The skies had grown dark just before the hail started and gigantic
drops of rain came crashing down.


Rivers of rain were flowing across the courtyard and cascading 
down the side yard churning up my newly planted spinach 
and lettuce beds. Hopefully the seeds will still sprout 
even if the rows are no longer straight.


The downspouts were full


and the culvert was once again flooded,
very much appreciated by the frogs and toads
that will soon be laying floating gelatinous egg strands
that we will scoop up and transport to the fountain.


We had no outdoor damage
although the electromagnetic pulse of the lightning
took out the power supply to our TV tuner but 
fortunately the TV survived.


We do have damage from the past winter storms.
What was once minor damage to the garden wall pond liner
is now fully cracked and in need of replacement.  
We left debris from the winter inside until we remove it
so whatever may fall inside has some footing to get out.


We will have to either replace the hard plastic liner
or create our own shape with soft liner.  
We had something like this originally and at the old house,
similar to a small grotto with pretty rocks stacked up
and ledges for  small waterfalls.


What I cannot repair is the missing red bud that
my husband cut down while thinning the volunteers that
have grown up over time. I didn't realize he was going
to cut this one with the rest, it gave a nice background to the 
pond.   Now I have mulch piled up over the stump until
I determine what I will put in as a replacement.

I took a walk after the storm and caught some nice photos of 
  blooming  wildflowers and mossy rocks. I'll share those later.
We're expecting more storms overnight, some may be severe.

Don't forget- when you are walking around after a storm
Look Up.
Watch for damaged branches that may fall on you without warning!




2 comments:

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

So glad you are safe.

Harry Flashman said...

Spring always means a lot of work outside, fixing the damage from winter.

That was a close hit. I'm glad everybody was inside and safe. I have a stupid habit of going out in the meadow during thunderstorms. I don't know why, but it's exhilarating.