Wee bit o' weather.

It takes a bit to make me nervous with regards to the weather. Growing up on a farm in northeastern Iowa, I have experienced all sorts of weather from a blizzard that had us without power and snowed in for 4 days to a tornado that blew out the windows in the living room which sent glass flying all over the place cutting my sister in two places which resulted in stitches. I like to think I have a calm head when the weather gets rough.

Last night, I do confess to a bit of unease as this line of storms came through. I was cooking dinner and heard the rumble of thunder. I knew we were to get storms and, due to the recent repeated waves of rain, it barely registers a look out the window anymore. This was different. It was calm, dead calm. If you've lived in the Midwest or "tornado alley", you know this calm. So, I decided this perhaps merited a bit more attention.

The first line came through around 5:10, knocking out power for about 3 minutes. When you're cooking on an electric stove, this is a bit problematic. Oh well. That wave was followed, in 10 minutes, by another, much stronger, much more electrical wave. The sheer amount of lightning and thunder around the area was almost double of previous storms. That's when I noticed Pilchard doesn't like thunder storms.

She meowed and wanted my lap. Then, with a crack and boom of lightning followed by thunder, she would take off. No amount of trying to sound soothing, "It's okay ladies. Mom's here." and ear scratches made her feel comfortable.

And then, when the tornado sirens went off, well, you can see where she went. Even under the settee was not comforting enough. She finally went under the cedar chest in the office and stayed there until I sat down to eat dinner.

Mija, on the other hand, while nervous, seemed comforted by my occasional ear scratches and my presence.

I opened the back door and looked at the clouds when the sirens went off. I didn't see anything and, in checking the radar online, the warning was for east of me. This is the first time the girls have experienced the siren here. It's 3 blocks from the house so it can be heard, clearly. It is disconcerting.

Without the lightning and thunder, last night's rain would have been wonderful to experience. The air temperature was warm and the rain was warm. I would have loved to sit on the deck with a mug of tea and just get drenched. But, with all the lightning around, that's not a real smart thing to do.

Today is glorious. It is a reminder that rain brings brilliant days. If we weren't expecting rain again over the weekend, I'd put the top down. Welcome to summer.

Beverage: Huckleberry tea

Deb