A Weather Story

May is here.

May it bring more of this:

And less of this:

More of this:

And less of this:

The Story of Wednesday's Hail Storm

(and the STUPID thing I did during it).

If I remember it right, Wednesday morning was kind of gray, kind of sprinkling, and kind of dark.  Just a gloomy Spring day, leaving me, baby and all animals cooped up inside the house.  Early afternoon rolls around and I see some sunlight shining through my windows - my cue to kick all animals out of doors.  So, that's what I did, well, I kicked the dogs out.  Cats seem to have their own agenda about when it is time to go outside. 

Anyhow, I start picking up around the house and apparently was so enthralled with cleaning that I don't even notice the thunderstorm that is brewing outside.  I am cleaning the bathroom sink when the lights flicker off for a minute.  I stop for a second and realize it is thundering very loudly outside.  "Oh crap...the dogs are out."  Now don't get me wrong, I understand my animals will not melt if they are left outside in the weather, but they are seriously afraid of thunder, or gun shots, or anything else that booms loudly.  I have no idea how long it has been thundering, but apparently it has been long enough for Bailee to completely disappear.  Lunati is impatiently waiting at the back door and runs inside as soon as I open it, but Bailee is nowhere to be found.

Now, this isn't the first time Bailee has hidden from loud noises.  She usually surfaces sometime after the loud noises stop and we never really know where she was hiding.  She just sort of materializes at the back door when she finally feels it is safe.  For some reason, though, I am really worried about her this time.  The wind is blowing like crazy and it is starting to sprinkle and I figure I will just walk around and call her and she will come hide inside with us.

I plop Laci in her walker since it was too cold outside for and run around our property yelling "Bailee" as loud as I can.  After about ten minutes of this, I give up and return to the screaming baby I left all alone in the kitchen.  I'm assuming she thought I abandoned her.  You know, because I do that sort of thing all the time.  Now, a normal person would just call it quits, assume the dog is smart enough to find a place to hide, and go on about business.  But, as I've mentioned before, I'm not a normal person.

I don't know if it is the strong maternal instinct in me or that I'm just crazy, but I get the bright idea to get in the car to look for Bailee.  Well, not really look for her, because I of all people should know that my dog does not travel by the road.  She prefers random routes through fences, under bushes, and across water to get to where she is traveling.  However, she knows the sound of my car and I figure if I just drive up the road a little bit and turn around, she will hear the car and certainly come running to the house for cover.

I put Laci in her carseat because, at this point, she becomes hysterical whenever I put her down.  I peek my head out the backdoor and the sprinkling has now turned to tiny hail balls.  It really isn't that bad, the hail is small and barely pinging off the ground.  I make a run for the car with the baby covered under a blanket.  I get to the end of the driveway and just as I turn onto the road, the tiny little hail balls turn into marbles, the wind gets so strong it is literally hailing sideways, and I can see the bolts of lighting streaking from the clouds.  I can hardly see out the window to see the road, let alone see a dog.  What was I doing?!  Our usually busy road was completely empty of vehicles except for me. 

I can see the headlines in my head: 

"Crazy woman with baby struck by lightning in her car while looking for a stupid dog"

OK, headlines aren't usually that long, but I'm not really rational at this point.  All I could think of was, "Whatever made me think this would work?"  

I got us turned around and back up the driveway and there we sat.  Laci and I, in the car, in the driveway, in the worst hail storm I've seen in a while.  It sounded like the hail was going to break the windows.  Laci was just hanging out in her carseat enjoying the show.  She obviously didn't realize that we would have to get back into the house.  As I sat there, watching the hail pile up on the hood of my car, I questioned my mental status and prepared to make a mad dash for the back door.  As I told this story to Ryan later that evening, he said he would have just sat in the car until it was over.  Now, looking back, that is probably what I should have done.  These hail storms never last that long, but in that moment, when it was nearly an inch deep on my windshield, I was convinced it would last for hours.  Totally illogical?  Absolutely.  So, I put on my hood, cover Laci with her blanket and dash for the back door.  About halfway to the back door I realize I'm running on very hard, very cold, very slick ice marbles and running probably isn't the best idea at this point, no matter how quickly I want to get in the door.  Falling at this point, would definitely make the situation worse.  So, I slowed to a speed walk and made it inside the door.

Sounds like I had to sprint a mile, huh?  No, it was only like 40 feet.  But, in that 40 feet, I managed to fill Laci's carseat with hail as she kept trying to pull the blanket off her face.  She wasn't bothered by the experience at all.  Oh, how nice to be a baby sometimes.

As they usually do, the hail storm ended, the sun came out, and the clouds began to clear.  Ryan came home from work about five, listened to my ridiculous story, confirmed that I was completely irrational, and of course, told me not to worry about Bailee.  At about six, he agreed to go drive up the road looking for her.  He barely made it to the end of the driveway before she popped up her head in the far corner of our field.  She looked both ways, crawled through the fence, and hightailed it for the back door.  Who knows where she was all afternoon, but she was muddy, soaking wet, panting like crazy, and completely unharmed in any way.  I really don't know why I worry.  I can guarantee, however, that the next time she runs away in a hailing thunder and lightning storm, I'm keeping my butt inside.