What the hail?!

Okay, Michael gets credit for that headline.

So, shortly after the discovery of our little hatchling we observed some crazy dark clouds rolling in from the North West heading at a pretty good clip toward, well, us. On the edge of the dark band of the sky was a swirling mass of gray clouds that had almost a conical look to it. I said CONICAL, not comical. And, not funnel either. Anyhow, it was pretty ominous looking as huge lightening strikes belted out of the sky heading our way.

It was about this time that I discovered my rice cooker went C4 on me. What's C4? If anyone knows, please e-mail me!!!! I had the time set to cook up some brown rice and it had been pleasantly counting down all day. When it started to cook it reached this error code and all the lights started blinking and it ceased to operate. Then I also discovered that the meat I was thawing was still a brick. I looked back out the windows. Did I really want to go out to eat? Man, I was hungry.

So, we piled everyone in the car and headed down to SOL (our new neighborhood tacqueria). Anyhow, while we were dining the winds really whipped up, the sky got dark and we were treated to a half hour long shower of hail and thunderous booms. And this wasn't little pea size hail either.



We waited for the worst of it to pass and then decided we could head back home. We had to drive slowly as the roads were covered in gravelly ice. It looked as if it had snowed. And all the deciduous trees that hadn't had the chance to change color for autumn were stripped of half their leaves. In fact, what struck me as we left the restaurant was a very fragrant aroma that I realized was crushed rosemary. The hail gave it a good pounding.



Anyhow, upon arrival at home we saw the devastation in the garden. Lettuce, chard, kale, brussels, broccoli, cauliflower, etc all decimated. I have a small garden and it has its issues anyway. My heart really went out to all the farmers who depend on this growing food for their livelihood.



Of course, the kids had a blast playing out with the iceballs. And the following morning there was still a layer of ice on the yard as it had chilled down so rapidly.