Thursday, June 26, 2008

The Thunder Rolls, and the Lightning Strikes..

Nat, the thunder...it did not get better...in fact, much worse.

Last night, I was tooling around on the internet shopping with Natalie for some new bedding for Naomi (we were doing this via IM). As I was signing off, I mentioned to Nat the thunder had started and I had animals on alert. Nat says something to the effect of hopefully, it is a passing storm, which was my hope as well. It was not to be.

For the next 4 hrs, we had a lightning storm like I have not ever seen - consistent flashes of lightning that literally lit up the sky. They were so bright and so extreme, the weather man on channel 4 said he was able to see a rotating cloud over the Scioto River. I thought to myself, Hm, the Scioto River is practically in my backyard, I better pay attention. Well, by this time, tornado sirens were going off - although one had not actually been seen, the rotation pattern in the clouds was enough for the weather service to issue a warning. There were three huge cells going west to Southeast - right over Hilliard and in my area. Although I am Dublin, I still live a little south toward Hilliard and was definitely in the pink. At 12:30 AM, they lifted the tornado warning - by this time, cell one had moved to southeast Franklin county and the news peeps were focused on that part of the cell, but I was like - guys, I think you need to look at the pink over Hilliard again. By that time I was more than a little nervous. Chelsie was really agitated, and pacing at this point. I got out the anxiety dropper I have for storms and pumped her full of them, as well as the DAP (dog appeasing pheromones) spray, which is supposed to emit calming pheromone similar to what mothers would give off in moments of stress. Finally, right as I was about asleep, a huge crack of thunder shook the house. All this took place from 11:30 until 2AM. Can we say zombie is what I feel like right now??? Among all this, my poor parents were worried - my daddy even called me twice to make sure I was Ok. I had left my cell phone upstairs when he called, so I am sure there were a few moments of panic, but I called right back.

I think we are supposed to have more storms again today - it is super humid outside, but I am thinking that it would be hard to have 2 nights in a row like last night. My parents are up in Cbus this morning, and my mom asked her usual question - Is there anything we can do for you? I said yes, get daddy to figure out what kind of battery back up I need for my sump pump. The ground is absolutely saturated - the rain was coming down in sheets last night - and my sump pump is working very hard. I know this because I have an older house and quiet is not a word I would use to describe my sump pump - however, I am ok with it, because I know it is working. I tend to lose power at my house very frequently, and am actually somewhat shocked I did not lose power last night. Saturated ground and sump pump not working due to a power outage = flood in basement = very bad. I have been meaning to do this for awhile now, last night's storms just kicked me into gear - for right now.

On a good note, my grass is super green and my day lilies have lots of blooms about to open. I will send pictures when they do. And finally, this morning - not that I need it - the utilities have been marked for the irrigation system!!! WOO HOO.

Ok, the grind calls - I may have to stop for rest period later today...

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