While the total rainfall was very low, the storms provided us our first opportunity to see how all the pets would handle things being in the house together for an extended period of time.
Some of you know that Sam and Tanya loathe rain. And when combined with thunder and lightening? Oy. They are not happy campers, especially Tanya. We joke that she can hear thunder when it rolls in Illinois and yesterday was no different.
In what seemed like no time at all, thunder heads started forming and the skies darkened. When the first fat drops of rain came down, Sam and Tanya were at the porch door. I let them inside and after some butt sniffing, growling, tail wagging, and yapping, they got settled with Bronte and Olivia.
I positioned myself on the porch love seat so as best to watch our first decent storm of the rainy season. Then it happened...a couple of loud cracks of thunder and a bolt of lightening hit. Next thing I know, Tanya comes slinking out to the porch (having previously been hidden behind the living room couch) and crawled under the love seat. Sam decided to curl up at my feet, Olivia jumped up next to me and put her head on my lap, and the cat assumed a position directly behind me on the ledge.
At that very moment, I started giggling because what flashed through my mind was that scene from the Sound of Music when all the children were in Maria's bedroom when the storm hit and she belts out, "Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens..." I tried humming a few bars, but my four-legged kids weren't inclined to sing along. And being on the porch, they were spared the possibility of me making them play clothes from any curtains.
After a few moments of heavy rain, everything eased up. I figured that was all she wrote and this was going to be a non-event. But then I started hearing this metallic pinging noise. At first, I thought David was having problems lowering the metal roller door to the shop. But that wasn't it. I looked out the back door and kept hearing the noise -- getting louder -- coming from the roof. What in the world was going on? And then all hell seemed to break loose and I had my answer:
Hail -- in Belize! Lots of it coming down from all directions. I felt like I was inside an arcade game with the pellets hitting the metal roof of our house and both outbuildings. And can I just say how amazing it was to watch it ricochet when it hit the metal? Ice was flying every which way.
The whole hail event only lasted a short time, then the rain returned for a bit, and before we knew it, the storm passed and the sun and humidity made it's return.
P.S. Just a brief side note -- we had noticed a leak in one of the gutters by the porch. Seems the endcap was made from wood and held in place with carpet tacks. I kid you not. David did a quick repair yesterday just as the hail storm hit, and finished up the job this morning. Carpet tacks? Really?
No comments:
Post a Comment