Dodged Another Bullet

Last night the weather kids very clearly stated that we were very likely to have dangerous weather between three and five in the afternoon today.

This morning Steve and I did some work in the garden, mounding up potatoes, and weeding and mulching  and then replanting the bare spots in the okra row. I told Steve not to set the sprinklers because we'd be having some rain later in the day, and oh, did we ever!

Big crazy mean tornado, grinding through Canadian County, EF5 tornado doing its level best to flatten El Reno and environs, rolling SLOWLY across I-40... long story short, leaving a long, wide path of destruction but missing us to the north...then a firing line of similar weather setting up again, missing us to the south.  The whole time we're watching live continuous coverage with color Doppler radar on our local TV station AND the interactive weather map on the internet.  For hours we watched intense weather patterns heading straight for us, only to dissipate slightly as they neared us as if opening a portal, sending the brunt of storms around to the north or to the south of us.

We did get about forty five minutes of pretty intense, no-kidding-I-really-mean-it rain right here on our little homestead, probably about two inches worth here. (I expect to see okra sprouts shortly!) Then the weather cleared out, moving on to the east, revealing clear skies and sunshine to the west, thank you very much. We had been so wrought up with watching all the color radars and being prepared to go blankets and pillows into our Safe Place that I had not made a move toward supper preparations, so when it was all done for us here, Steve said, "Wanna go up and get a Chick-fil-A or something?"

He went out to the front porch to wait while I locked up the house, and observed a small piece of torn leaf falling straight down from the sky, a little green piece of storm debris. Landed right on our porch.

Now we're back home for the night, and glad to be. Garden got a good quality watering.  There's water in the pond across the road again, and even though it isn't quite full (yet?) it's another beginning. I saw an egret circling the pond again and the sounds of little froggies already fill the air. Doesn't take those frogs long at all!

Wonder what it's going to do tomorrow?

...Looking Forward,
Vicki