I was doing a survey for a power company panel to which I belong. It's an interesting endeavor and I'm glad I joined.
Suddenly the cell phone beside me screamed with a Tornado warning.
We take those seriously around here, having had at least two of them start on our upper fields, or the next door neighbor's fields, and go on to wreak havoc east of us.
Everybody put on shoes. Liz made sure we could easily get to the cellar door. The boss moved the car to the east side of the house, away from the big trees, and brought Finn indoors. We put camp chairs in the kitchen handy if we had to take shelter.
Then we waited and watched. It was kinda scary. First the little flock of chickadees that calls the place home went wild, gathering in a circle you could throw a bushel basket over, and screaming Dee Dee DEE in unison.
A Northern Cardinal began a series of alarm chirps that went on and on.
Crows spun overhead. A Chimney Swift swirled so high against the clouds we could barely see him.
Said clouds piled higher and higher until they reached the from the zenith to the horizon. Truly the highest thunderheads I have ever seen.
The doe and fawn raced off the hill and dived into the woods by the road.
We watched some more.
Small circles of rotation started under the main clouds and then dissipated after a bit.
Then it seemed to cut north of the river where it made a lot of messes. Trees down and a lot of water all over.
That was not the worst of it though. We just got news that the old Empire Hotel in Sharon Springs collapsed. If we are Facebook friends you can see photos of the wreckage on my page. This is how it looked before it fell...a real loss to the community, which has been working hard to revitalize its downtown for years.
The past few weeks have been among the stormiest I can remember....I am ready for some more stable, and hopefully less humid, weather any time now. It's just raining now, but the river was high and rolling brown before the storm. I would hate to see it now.
