Tornadoes!

Yesterday, we had numerous tornadoes touch down in Austin, Texas.

My hubby and I met some old friends for dinner and came home. The weather was just fine. It was cloudy but no rain. I plopped myself in front of the TV and started watching taped episodes of Judge Judy.

In the far distant, I could see some lightning. I hoped it would rain. And then went back to watching Judge Judy.

In about 5 minutes, my son yelled, "Mom! Pause your show and watch the weather news. I got a text message from my friend. A tornado is coming our way."

Frankly, it was hard to believe because it did not look that bad outside. I've seen worse. But I changed the channel and this is what we saw.



Two tornadoes had already touched in Austin. And the storm was heading our way.

We all got into action. The guys scrambled to get the car in garage and cover it up. Hail would soon follow. I did what any normal person would do. Grabbed a flashlight, candles, and my camera. I prayed and prayed that the camera batteries had enough juice.

I took photos of the TV but there was no rain yet. The guys were busy trying to cover up the cars outside the garage. Everyone was shouting.

"Get me a scissor to cut this rope"
"Not that scissor. The other one!"
"Guys! Another tornado touchdown! Debris is falling! It is headed our way!"

Yet there was no rain. Only gloomy silence. Soon we started hearing what sounds like gun shots. Thud. Thud. Thud.

What is odd about tornadoes is that you get this isolated hail even before it starts to rain. That's when you know it is really, really serious.

It was a tornado event.

The guys all got in the house and we huddled around the TV. And it started to rain. And hail. We only got a little hail. But it was very scary.

We don't have a basement. We really don't have a closet that we can all fit into. So we just waited.

It poured and poured. And then it was over. The worst had passed us. We were all safe.

This morning, I will take my camera to work. And take photos of the impact of a tornado event.

One half of a hail.


Big hail

Zinnias

Today I took a day off and planted some zinnias.

It was a beautiful day. I had wanted to take a day off to take this month. Just to take care of some things I don't get around doing. So I did it today.

I had so many plans but here is what I ended up doing:

• Planted Zinnias and herbs.
• Cleaned and organized my dresser. Boy I have clothes in every size. I found a size zero dress, looked at it and laughed my head off. It went in the "give away clothes" pile.
• Watched Divorce court.
  
• Watched a ton of depressing commercials. Need a lawyer? Want to go to college? Want an instant loan? Just hand over the title to the car! As easy as that! Look at all the money in your hands!
• Found a bunch of old coins. Where did I get them? How could I clean them?
• Did one hour of yoga. Meditation and all. Relaxed!
  
• Tried another channel on TV and watched the news. It was depressing so turned it off.
  
• With my eyes closed, pondered about world peace and how to accomplish it. No I was not napping.
• Started laundry.
• Started organizing my old photographs.
• Started organizing my garage.
• Took a nap.
• Watched Judge Judy. Yeah! Love, love, love her! I wish there was a Judge Judy marathon. I am always so disappointed when her show is over. More! More! More!
  

So here I am today. With a day off and nothing accomplished. Except the Zinnias. I planted Zinnias and had a great day. Hope you had a great day too!