...first good storm in a year or two

around mid-day on Monday, the clouds had really moved in...
things became rather still, until after dark...
when the long-expected winds picked-up from the south...
[a sure sign of a gathering storm around here...]

I first noticed that the rain had begun in earnest in the late evening...
I'd had my window open to hear the rain when it came...
but I had to close it after a sneezing fit...
foiling some of my enjoyment of the promised inclement weather...
[I love a good storm...]

my wind chimes could be heard clanging in the wind...
the waves of rain echoed off my neighbor's driveway...
and the gusts of wind thumped my house...
while tree branches scratched at my windows...

I was fighting flu-like symptoms & a nasty sinus headache...
so I spent the day in bed, drifting in & out of fever dreams...
hearing the unrelenting rain & wind as it drove the Piglet back in...
to sulkily preen her wet fur & then nap, snoring loudly next to me...
[she thinks that I make it rain, just to spite her...]

sometime around dark on Tuesday, the storm passed...
the constant rain drifted into showers...
the strong winds to breezes...
the wind chimes stilled and the tree branches relaxed...

this was the first strong winter-like storm we've had for a year or so...

so today, when I emerged from my hibernating state of yesterday...
& ventured outside [tomorrow being "trash day"...]
I found this...



leaf litter, clumps of broken liquid amber trees...



all sorts of debris from the strong winds...
but I was soon to discover that I was lucky...
not only did I suffer no power outage...
I didn't have any tree damage...

as I traveled past the park, on my way to the church...
I discovered all sorts of causalities from the storm...



this tree had been toppled, ripping up sidewalk...
city crews had already cut the trunk into pieces...



just across the street, in the park...
there had been some major limb breakage...
[the result of a very dry winter & spring...]



as well as assorted smaller limb damage & lots of leaves...



this is looking south from the ripped-up sidewalk...
you can get through, just barely...

so after documenting the aftermath of a storm...
that must have dumped at least 3 inches of rain on Mudville...
what did I see ?



someone's sprinklers were running...

as I watched... they changed zones...
so they must have been on a timer...

it was just so ironic...
that after all that rain & wind of the last day or so...

someone's watering their lawn...
& in the middle of the day, no less !

no wonder we've been in a drought situation...