Oh, Hail!

We decided to go swimming on Saturday. It had been a hot muggy day, part of a hot and muggy week, and a swim sounded pretty good. Ironically, we hadn't been swimming in a very long time! We usually venture to the local DNR property, the Forest, and this afternoon was no different. We had only been swimming about a half an hour when we heard thunder. We didn't give it a second thought because the weather forecast had only predicted a 20% chance of rain for our area that evening. The sky started to turn more and more sinister, but it looked like it was way to the East. Finished with our impromptu swim, we hopped out, sort of dried off, and jumped into our jeep. Jeeps, of course, are highly recommended for summer driving--top completely down, cool breezes no matter how hot--all is good. You can see where I am going with this. We got about 1/3 of the way home when it started to rain. Now, raining while in a moving jeep isn't that big of a deal. If you're moving, the airflow will keep it from hitting you--it actually just goes over the hood, up the windshield, and right over the top. Usually. I have been caught in many a rain shower, and have rarely gotten wet. However, this was not normal. It hit so hard and so fast. It came down in sheets and from all angles all at the same time. We were already more wet then dry from swimming so it really didn't matter how much wetter we got, or so we naively thought. We were laughing. Then it started to hail. Again, we thought it was sort of funny. We'd never been hailed on before and it sort of felt like we were being salted. In fact, it looked like coarse salt. Then, all hail broke loose! The hail got bigger and bigger and just pelted us. Our laughter turned to screams--it was so incredibly painful! We pulled over in the first driveway we could, frantically leaped out of the jeep, and ran for cover, settling on standing under someone's garage overhang to wait out the deluge. It eased up a bit, so we leaped back into our jeep anxious to just get home. Now, we don't live that far from where we were swimming-maybe 5 miles, and by this time we were only a couple miles from home. But it was a long couple of miles! Although the rain and hail were less intense, they hadn't completely stopped. By the time we pulled in our drive, and under our deck, the jeep was full of hail and sloshing from all the rain, and we were freezing!  A hot shower never sounded so good.  And to think we went swimming to start with to beat the heat and humidity of the day! It turns out that a nearby town suffered quite a bit of storm damage from this event--downed trees, power lines, shingles and shutters blown away not to be recovered.

Getting Caught at Home

Flip flops-check
Black socks-check
Capri sweatpants-check
Purple sweatshirt-check
Neighborhood kids--check, check, check, and check

Today finally feels like spring.  It didn't start out that way-extreme fog and extremely damp from LOTS of snow last week (6-8 inches in my yard alone) and then LOTS of rain.   When I left work the sun was shining and calling to me.  So, literally within minutes of coming home, I opened up some windows and our patio doors to let the sun and warm air in!  Oh, Glory!  Even our OLD cat (How old, you ask?  She'll be 21 in June.  Yes, 21 human years.), our very old cat ventured out and relaxed by plopping down right in front of the doors after giving the deck a thorough walk through and sniffing.

Read the paper on the deck-oh, check
Decide to change the yard flag by the mailbox-check

We have a "Welcome" flag hanging by our mailbox.  Since right before Christmas it has greeted me and mine each time we pop over the hill and cruise in our driveway.  It has a joyful snowman on it and I felt it would last just fine through winter.  It was time for it to go. I LOVE winter.  I really do.  I am ALWAYS warm, especially now that I am OLDER.  I feel you can always put on more layers if you really get cold!  But, the pull of spring and warmer air and flowers and sunshine pulled at me today.  I decided to change my flag as preparation for the upcoming warmer days.  My new flag has been waiting patiently for its time to shine in the trunk in our entry; it is joyful, with multi-colored sunflowers in the shape of a heart with the words, "Live, Love, Laugh."  I unwrapped said flag and didn't think twice about slipping on my flip flops.  Yes, my brain did register that I was still wearing my black socks from work.  I had changed my clothes but not my socks. Flip flops and black socks. Yes, a true fashion statement, but we live in the country!  We have a small amount of acreage and neighbors we can sort of see in the winter through the trees, but not really.  I traipsed down the drive and was perched on our landscaping rocks "unhooking" the snowman flag when I heard the kids, squealing, laughing, having fun on this warm evening.  Then I heard, "Is that Mrs.....?"  Drat, I thought.  I was in mid flag change so I had to finish. I could never run away from the situation as I am too old and too clutsy even on a best day.  I changed my flag and turned as some neighbor kids biked, ran, and skateboarded to a halt near me.  We chatted about the great day it turned out to be, how it was way too wet for soccer practice after school, about safety on skateboards, and how it really was possible to multi-task while riding a bike (another story!).  We said our "Have a great rest of your day!"s and "See you later!"s and parted company.  As I was walking up the drive, I started laughing, thinking, "Oh, Lord, what a sight I must be."  I must explain:  I work in a local school district and have for more than 15 years, so MANY kids know me.  MANY!!  Most kids don't think, don't realize that we who work at schools do have lives OUTSIDE of school.  And we definitely don't wear our "school clothes" at home either.  At least I don't!  Upon entering the house, I turned and went into the bathroom to access the damage.  My hair was fine (hard to mess with curly hair that sticks up anyway), and my sweathshirt/sweatpant combo worked okay.  The black socks and flip flops?  Well, maybe they didn't notice!  Perhaps, all they'll tell their friends is they saw their teacher hanging a new flag by her mailbox and she stopped to talk to them.