Cats, Dogs, Geese and Golf Balls!!

For our family spread across the US, watching the weather channels, today was interesting, but we escaped the danger. The rain was not so bad. It was the hail and wind that concerned us the most. That and the potential for tornadoes all afternoon.

We spent a better part of two hours today staring at the TV, watching the radar and listening closely to the meteorologists. At one point we did have Skylah in her closet with pillows and blankets, and we were close behind, waiting for that set of sirens to let up.

After the first storm cycle of hail, we took a quick look at the outcome...

Nothing severe or damaging, as far as we could tell. But during the storm, it was a little eerie listening to the hail banging against the windows.

Skylah thought the ice balls she found were amusing, as would I have if I were 4 years old not worrying about my children or the possibility of windows breaking, people being hurt.

We saw on the news some people had baseball size hail. I am grateful ours did not get bigger than what Shawn is holding on to.

It is amazing what goes through your head in those few minutes. I think I prefer that to Hurricane threats though. With those you have all the hurricane threat to go through. Which way will it turn? Where will it touch down? Will it increase in strength?? Do we need to pack up and leave?

No, during a Tornado warning, you sit in front of the TV. Watching. Listening. Hoping. Praying. If the threat gets closer, you have a frightening 5 minutes, then a sudden peace comes over you as you realize the threat has passed for now.

Another little experience we had during this storm was in the observing of a grounded Goose. Some not from here may not know it, but we have geese here year round. I love having them here. Especially during the cooler months. I was surprised to see them here last summer, thinking they would fly up north for the summer months. But, I found them all around, swimming in the ponds, keeping as cool as they could.

Anyways, after the harsher spin of clouds and hail, Shawn saw this Goose in the development property directly behind our house. Why he/she was there, we don't know. We are thinking it may have been knocked down by some hail, or a strong gust of wind or whatnot.

In any case, despite the sirens going off again (we were watching the news to make sure we were in the clear, as the sirens go off for the entire county) I grabbed my camera and tried to take pics. It was raining, and my lens is only a 200mm. But it was still more fun to observe through the lens than from the naked eye...

It took off suddenly, and I had no time to increase the shutter speed, so this is the best you will get...

It took off into the forest, and to (what I am assuming is a pond hidden in there) covered safety. Just in time for the next pass. I was happy to see it take off and get to a better place.

And so, for our sweet family, we are here. We are well. I pray others who were in this string of storm's path are well, too.