Update: St. Patty's storms dumped over 6" rain in my rain gauge overnight. The result this morning:
https://youtu.be/kC-7EIX-pLU
No large trees down, all buildings OK. Not bad considering what walloped the rest of Mississippi and Alabama.
I dropped the dogs off late evening in their new abode. I fenced them off in the great room; hung out with them for a while to make sure they weren't about to have a freak out.
Apart from sleeping one night in a tent, I haven't been anywhere in over 15 months. If it wasn't for the severe weather, this would be a mini vacation.
The dogs adjusted well, so I tiptoed out and went to the barn to bring the horses in their stalls before the lightning arrived. That's when my phone alerted me a tornado was on the ground 15 miles away and headed our way. F-u-d-g-e.
I bring them in during storms to keep them safe from lightning, but being in a barn when a tornado hits isn't the place to be. I've timed myself in the past, I can cut them all loose and lock the doors behind them in 5 minutes... running down to the guest house without falling flat on my face in the dark, maybe another 5 (this part has not been put under experiment).
I kept a vigil on the path of the tornado and made the call that it would glance us. I was right, it either lifted up and went over us, or we caught the outer wall of it. I stood in the barn aisle, wearing my life preserver over my raincoat, riding helmet on, listening to the approaching rumble, phone in hand. I paced up and down the aisle, the horses were standing like statues staring at me, "I know it's bad guys, I hear it too". There's a different sound to tornadoes, it's not a blowing sound like gale force winds, it's a sickening sucking sound. When I heard it move over us and off the East, I went out to look for the one horse who hadn't come in: Fletcher.
Of course he was in the bottom of the pasture. The rain managed to get in under my raincoat, so I was setting up the horses with fresh hay in my skivvies while my clothes were tumbling in the dryer. No pictures, ha, ha.
I stayed with the horses until 5 AM, scooping poop and handing out hay, when the worst had past and I released the horses.
I returned to my new crib and crashed for 2 hours. In 6 years here, I'd never slept in the guesthouse, it was like escapism! Me + 5 dogs in one pull out sofa = bliss. (Pippins prefers to sleep under my bed, or sofa in this case, she's a weirdo)
Workday started again at 8. I attempted to go home to rest a few hours, but the vat of coffee I'd quaffed at 8 prevented it. I think I'll just sleep when I'm dead. At the moment, I'm simply grateful we made it through unscathed. On the walk home, I saw where the rain had washed out part of the driveway.
Luck of the 3/4ths Irish!!!
Plus, drum roll please: the first of my barn swallows returned from South America this morning.
https://youtu.be/FsN_xf1yCn0
I hope the rest of the family didn't get off course or injured in the storm. I'd been waiting for them every day. Last year, first of 8 pairs arrived on March 14th. They provide us with natural fly control in the barn. It makes me cry my eyes out each year, when I come to the barn at the end of July to realize they've all left for their long migration south.
