It's all good...

Since the TV was reporting a tornado touched down in the vicinity of where our 5th wheel is stored, we felt a trip to the storage yard was in order. When we got there, everything looked fine; the ground wasn't even soggy. When I asked the lady who owns the storage place, she said, "I don't know what those TV people were talking about - we barely got a half inch of rain and very little wind." There was some damage with trees and power lines down in our town, some reports of damage on South Padre, but nothing major.

We checked out the 5th wheel, and all was fine. As long as we made that trip, we started some work on the boat trailer.

Wind and rain aside, we dodged the bullet. On the really bright side, we had wind out of the north at about 20 mph during much of the day, and no sand or dirt in the wind... Mother Nature wet it all down last night. :-)

Severe weather...

Of course; I washed the truck, the cargo trailer, and the boat this afternoon. There have been severe weather warnings west and north of us most of the day. Now, there is a tornado WARNING about 20 miles northwest of us... and, it's moving southeast. Lots of lightning, heavy rain, hail, and the sighted tornado. All the local TV stations are on high alert, with their weather people getting all the air time.

It's pretty much in the area of where our 5th wheel is stored. Sigh. I guess we'll be making a trip that way tomorrow.

Tornados are a rarity around here. No one has a basement.

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On edit...

Well, that was fugly. The first band passed over us... yeah, I said, "band;" looking at the sky, it looks like the bands of an oncoming hurricane. We were ready: had Izzy's carrier so we could keep her contained, and decided the bathtub would be the go-to place if things turned really nasty. It didn't come to that. But, the sky went black, the wind howled, thunder and lightning galore, and impressive pounding, driving rain. I haven't heard locally, yet, but the town nearest us received over 4 inches of rain in less than a half hour! The rain gutters couldn't contain it, the rain was coming down so hard. I looked over the deck to check on the boat, and the cockpit scuppers couldn't keep up, either - water was pooling in the cockpit.

On the bright side: no tornado in our area.

The weather reporting was pretty accurate, with the worst of the weather coming over us within 5 minutes of when the local TV said it would hit. Radar predictions are showing that we will see more of the same, coming in bands, through the night. Reports of local flooding, but that will likely run off.

Still hearing thunder, but the sky is lighter and the wind is down. Joan called the lighter sky "a sucker hole" (from our flying days)... looking to the west, I think she's right.

Here it comes...


That image above was about 2 hours before sunset. And then the rain hit...


Look at the upper left corner, and you can see the rain overflowing the gutters.

Whew!

The favorite...

When our daughter was little, we would occasionally ask her, "Who's your favorite, your Mother or me?"

Of course, the standard kid reply would be, "I love you both the same."

"Well, if you were on a boat that was sinking, and you only had one life jacket, would you give it to me or your Mother?" Yeah, cruel, I know. I always thought the proper answer would be, "If I only had one, I'd keep it for myself," but you have to know what it's like to be a Daddy to know that isn't what you'd do.

Maybe I did that because both Joan and I are the "third kid;" she is the 3rd of 6, I was the youngest of 3. Our daughter is a one-and-only, so she was always "the favorite." Just so you don't think I gave her nothing but gut-wrenching things to ponder, I always told her, "Parents have kids until they have a perfect one, and then they quit. That's why you are an only child." Of course, that would explain my sibling situation, too. ;-)

Some of you know that we have had three cats over the years. Smoke was first, and was picked by our daughter when she was 10 years old. Smoke lived for almost 22 years. Next came Molly... if you've read my book, you know that Molly picked me (and vice versa). And now there is little Izzy. Izzy and Joan picked each other, no question about that. There is a sweet bond there. Izzy doesn't cuddle with me the way she does with Joan.

But, 4 times a day, I am the favorite. Izzy gets 4 meals a day, small portions on a very regular schedule. I don't know if she can tell time, or if she has a very accurate internal clock... but, 5 minutes before feeding time, I am the favorite. Did I mention: I am the one who does the feeding?

Just before lunch today...

Coastal Flood Advisory...

That's what the National Weather Service is calling for. We're on day 3 of strong winds and a high tide cycle... I'm feeling a bit of "cabin fever", since the wind has made any outdoor activities unpleasant for the past three days. Now, just before sunset, the wind is finally starting to ease up. Wild Blue was looking pretty brown from the blowing sand and dirt; I washed her down, but is one of those Sisyphus situations again. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so Mother Nature may do some of the cleaning for me.

Clear!

Joan updated her CPR and First Aid certifications today. I sat in with her for the refresher, even though my cards are current. All part of gearing up for our summer "gig."

A hangnail?? Hook 'em up to the AED! Zap!

Nah, just kidding. ;-)

Friday the 13th...

Fortunately, I'm not superstitious (knock on wood). We spent the morning and most of the afternoon working on boat projects... drilling this, mounting that, hung a shower curtain, sewed a potty cover (keeps water out of the potty while we're showering... is that too much information??), put some 5200 on wood to do more interior stuff.

The weather turned ugly... not like rain or cold; it is hot, humid, and windy. It's still really dry here, so there is plenty of sand and dirt in the gusty wind. We put the air conditioner on the boat, and were able to work, cool and comfortable, out of the wind.

I had to cut some wood for mounting electric plug-ins, and I still have all my digits. We modified an oak stove cover from a previous RV to fit over the Wallas stove in the boat... had to use a hot glue gun to stick down some non-skid, and I didn't make a mess or glue my fingers together. Joan is in the boat right now, putting some fresh stain on the interior wood trim and said she didn't need me in the boat while she was doing that... yep, I am pretty darn lucky today. ;-)

Dr. appointment...

Little Izzy had her annual checkup yesterday. Along with a clean bill of heath, she got three shots. The poor little thing was mad when we got home, then we could tell that she was hurting from the shots in her hip. She didn't have much to do with us last night.

Today, she is moving better and is back to her sweet disposition... not running and jumping, but definitely getting back to normal.

When I was a kid, I always hated to hear, "This is for your own good..." Really, nothing much good ever came from anyone saying that. ;-) I tried to explain it that way to Izzy - I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't buying it, either.

Dr. Julie (the vet) said, "She has beautiful fur and it is so silky - she feels like a rabbit." Izzy wasn't swayed by the compliment... we had to work hard to get her out of her carrier at the vet's office. Amazing how much strength in that little 7 pound cat!