Most of the weather in West Texas is remarkable. Usually the remarks go something like: Hot. Windy. Dry. Windy. Cold. Windy.
But for 7 to 10 days each year, the remarks are: Cool. Windy. Wet. Windy. Flood. Windy.
And four of those 7 to 10 days this year just happened this week. We had storms. Now, storms anywhere can be bad. Some very bad. Most of our storms this week were only bad if you were a tree.
The first two pictures above were from the east and west sides of Fire Station #5 just three houses down from Casa de Togo. And the last two pictures were from the back yard of the Casa. Daddy says that we were very fortunate. I agree with his assessment. For, at the time those limbs came down, I was inside sleeping. I may have heard a little thunder and some flashes of lightning. But mostly, I was just snoozing away.1
When Daddy and I went walking the morning after the worst of the storms, we saw trees down everywhere. And stop signs and street signs were flattened. We even saw a few fences that caught the brunt of the wind and were converted to impromptu decks.
Daddy was watching the weather station before the storm. He said that the weather people predicted 80 mile per hour winds. It’s a little hard to know exactly how fast they were blowing — especially since I was snoozing. But just this morning, a neighbor we saw on our walk engaged in common West Texas weather talk with us. “Some wind, huh?” When Daddy said, “Yes,” the neighbor proclaimed, “Coming at us at more than 90 miles per hour!”
Daddy gave me that look. You know the one. The one you give when you hear something that should be taken with a grain of salt.2
Regardless of how fast the winds were, they must have been awesome. And we had some doubly awesome clouds throughout the storms.
The picture above was taken just before our last storm that roared through late yesterday afternoon, depositing another inch of rain to bring our four-day total to more than 4 1/2 inches.
In addition to being the General Manager of Casa de Togo, I am also the chief meteorologist. Oddly, that has nothing to do with meteors. Daddy says that most of the time the forecasts that come from such folks is not all that accurate. He says that I am the best kind of meteorologist because I just look out the door to see what the weather’s doing.
When the sun starts shining again, I say a short prayer of thanks for the rain. But then, I celebrate by zooming around the yard. The wet grass and mud in the flower beds slows me down a bit. But they don’t detract from my thanksgiving celebration.
If you are having storms where you live, I hope and pray that you stay safe. And that when the sun returns, you will be thankful and enjoy a nice zoom.
Snoozing and snoring is often described as “sawing logs.” In the days after the storm, I heard a lot of log sawing, but it was from chain saws. Momma and Daddy don’t snore much. When they do, it’s nothing like what was going on outside my window the last few days.
The phrase “taken with a grain of salt” is attributed to Pliny the Elder who apparently had a son (Pliny the Younger) who was noteworthy enough that his dad’s identity had to be secured by adding a stinger to his name. Pliny the Elder noted in his book, Naturalis Historia, that some people claimed a pinch or a grain of salt added to a poison antidote increased your chances of survival. I couldn’t find any scientific studies that would verify this. So, I would advise that you not eat anything poisonous in the first place. Too much salt isn’t good for you.
I am sorry you all lost trees, but glad you were safely snoozing in the house, Mia. And I really liked your zoomies!
You are a brave storm chaser Mia :)