wild

Yesterday was a wild one.  I was playing games at Denise's, and the tornado sirens started going off.   Mike and Kathy were at the hospital with their dad, doing power of attorney things and making final plans.  I had asked Mike earlier if he wanted me to go sit with his mom, but he said no.  I know she craves her alone time just like I do, and she doesn't get much of it, so I left her alone.  But when the tornado warning started, I decided to go to her house, because I wanted to make sure she got into the basement ok.  Just as I was about to leave, Noah called.  He had come home early from work, because they were doing roof work, and the crane operator saw lightning.  I knew he would be fine, but didn't like the idea of his being alone either, so I told him to go to Nana's and stay with her in the basement.  He called right back and said that Mike told him that Nana was already in the basement, and he should just go to our basement.  He seemed unsure what to do, so I told him to do what his dad said. That's the beauty of having a head of the household.  When there's a discrepancy, obey the highest boss.

Meanwhile, Sarah was at band camp, so I knew the band staff would get them all to a safe place in the school.  She texted me and told me she loves me and was safe in the locker room.

In the end, there were two tornadoes nearby, but we didn't get hit.  We did end up with 8 inches of rain!  All our cute little voles got flooded out of their holes and were just scurrying around above ground trying to find shelter.

Bull Run Creek behind our house was the highest I've ever seen it.  The water was rushing by (surprisingly quietly), carrying huge logs and all kinds of debris.

 The above pictures show it yesterday, and the below is from today. 

 Even today, it's still bigger than it usually is.  

The picture below shows Marty enjoying a drink of fresh rainwater from the tub that I keep outside to catch rainwater for watering my garden.  I emptied it twice yesterday into the watering can.

After her drink and lots of petting, Marty was ready to supervise an outdoor project:

 weeding the landscaping.

It was good day to pull weeds, because the ground was so soft from all the rain, but it still took me two hours.  It feels like a waste of time, because I didn't get all the roots, and I know they'll grow right back.

I was too tired, sore, muddy, and sweaty to deal with the carcasses.  Maybe in a few days, it will be cooler and they will have shriveled and I will sweep them all up, or maybe someone else will come along and deal with them.