Thursday, March 18, 2021

Luck of the Irish

 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.


https://youtu.be/Mi6b2QVn_nE


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.