The other night The Glamourous Girl, The Earnest Boy, Grandma (who is visiting) and I were sitting and watching an incredible lightening show. For well over an hour we watched the sky light up again and again. It lit up in sheets and in sharp spikes. We all noted that this lightening was not accompanied by any thunder. It was a silent show, which captured our attention even more.
Eventually it was bed time and we went upstairs to prepare for the night. It started to rain hard and the wind started to blow. We carried on with our bedtime routine, preparing flashlights in case the power went out. Just as were tucking the kids in, there was an awful racket that came out of nowhere. Up on the third floor it sounded as though the roof was caving in, literally. I couldn’t put my finger on this horrible sound, but it was as though the house was being hit by large, fast flying objects. In a second of confusion I ran up to the third floor to check on the hot water tanks that have vents which run out through the ceiling. The tanks are gas and I was trying not to freak out. Where they exploding? Had we been hit by lightening?
Grandma stayed with the kids in the bedroom. The Glamourous Girl was absolutely terrified and shaking all the way through to her core. The Earnest Boy was in heaven. With a flashlight in one hand he kept yelling out “awesome!” as we tried to keep him back from the windows.
With the Glamourous Girl and Grandma screaming for me to get out of the attic, I ran down to the first floor and looked outside. I had a hunch and I was right. It was hailing - big, fat, honking hail. The world was white. I ran back up to the 2nd floor to calm down The Glamourous Girl and to explain what was going on. The Earnest Boy couldn’t wait for a glimpse of this awesome weather phenomena and we all went downstairs to look outside. We opened the back door and there at our feet was a PILE of ice. There were some nearly as big as tennis balls.
The storm lasted for all of seven minutes. We gathered up ice and took pictures and stuck some in the freezer for The Force. We were all fascinated by their shapes which were eerily regular and looked as though they came out of an ice maker.
The next day we took stock. Our house was fine, but my car bit the bullet. The storm smashed out my back windshield and dented the hood and trunk. A lot of people had roof damage, broken windows, smashed cars and for anyone walking on the streets - concussions.
It just goes to show that compared to mother nature we are small, so very, very small....
