Three Days of Cold

So I haven't updated in like a week because power outages and like eight inches of snow. No power or heat for three days. We pretty much lived around the fireplace for a little while.

I still don't know where the hell my winter coats are. I've been using my hoodie every time I step outside. I might have played in the snow anyway if I had better shoes, or at least had more than one pair.

Anyway, we were in the middle of Christmas at Gram's when everything began to go downhill. We started getting sleet and freezing rain. The steps were already iced when I went back next door, and I had to scrape my back windshield before I went home. The power went out that night - once around six, then again at eleven and it stayed off after that. I was outside when the transformer blew - big green flash somewhere behind my house and the entire street went dark, which was weird as hell.

And I'm getting cold again just talking about all this. Christmas aside, it's been a bit of a sucky vacation thus far XD But it can only get better, right?

Walking in Hail

I went for a walk in a hailstorm today.

It wasn't hailing when I went out - I just wanted a picture of the sunset. There's a decent place to take photos a little ways down my street. After I snapped a few, I went a bit further to another area for some different shots.

Crappy picture taken with a phone because I no longer have a camera.

Anyway, it started hailing about the time I began to head back. Fairly small, pea-sized at first and got bigger about halfway back. The largest nugget I found was about half the size of a ping pong ball. I was thoroughly soaked by the rain, it looked like it snowed in my yard, I'm not sure my shoes are going to be dry tomorrow morning, and the hail left welts all over my chest.

Still, it really was a gorgeous afternoon. The autumn yellows looked stunning against the blue-grey of the sky. I really wish I had a camera.

Autumn Brontide

It rained today. Buckets and buckets of the stuff. I stood outside for nearly an hour, just watching the world come crashing down on my roof. The wind was crazy erratic, blowing the rain horizontal down the street one second and right into me hiding under the awning the next.

It would pour and then it would kind of stop for a while and things would go back to that overcast sharpness, that kind of new, dusty quality the atmosphere takes on after a good rain. Then it would pick up again and get really loud and dark and I was honestly wondering if I should be making sure none of the clouds were getting a green tinge (for those unaware, green skies are a tornado warning sign).

Anyway, it does this all afternoon and finally lets up around 7:00ish and I know - know that I should really hop in my car and go for a drive. I don't know why except maybe that the sky and the light quality looks kinda cool, but you don't have time to waste when it's that close to sunset. So off I go.

There are two places that come to mind - the lake and the bridge. I head for the lake first, as that's where I usually go. Unfortunately, said lake is in a sort of valley that obscures what I'm looking for, especially with this many clouds. Nothing worth getting my camera out for; though that hazy orange color overlaying everything is neat, it wouldn't really show up on film.

The bridge then. I wasn't able to take any pictures, but I'm glad I went. It was all blue-grey clouds and lightning on one side, and sherbert wisps on the other. Nothing but forest and pasture down below, and a small river running along, and some of the cows are out grazing and everything just looks very sharp to my vision in all the extreme contrast.

I took that backroad all the way to a nearby exit and got back on the highway towards home. I stopped for frappes at Hastings because it was happy hour, and why waste a good thing? By the time I get there, it's almost completely nightfall, but the storming hasn't stopped yet; there's no rain and no thunder, but the lighting is still giving its all. I barely went into Hastings. Just long enough to get my drinks then I sat out in the parking lot for a while, just watching.

Then I went home and gave the other frappe to my grandmother and pulled up this tab to tel you all why I named this blog what I named this blog and I can still hear the thunder but I've got a journal entry to finish.

Finally, Rain.

I have discovered a flaw in my plan to keep a rain journal. Namely, that I always go stand out on the porch whenever it rains, which is on conducive to writing on paper.

We got about an inch of rain according to the rain gauge. Not bad for 20-30 minutes of storming. It was kinda crazy out here - first there was a little rain, then a lot of rain, then lightning, then hailstones, then the wind went crazy and I may as well not have been standing under the awning for all the good it did me, then tree branches.

The front yard is a mess of broken tree branches right now. I was outside when it came down which was exciting to say the least. I wasn't sure what had happened until it was all over. I think it came down about the time we were getting near-horizontal rain. Crazy.

At least we got a little respite from the heat =D