After the wind, snow

Chokecherry snow

A thunderstorm grumbled into being about 11 p.m. last Sunday evening, spitting a bit of light rain and a few tired bolts of lightning. Night rain drumming on the roof was a welcome, peaceful sound. A joyful sound as well, considering two dry years and an April which delivered scarcely a third of the average precipitation we expect to see during the month of "showers."

Despite the fact that I could sleep late if I so chose, I rose Monday morning at 3 a.m. It's a curious fact that when I must rise early I don't want to, and when I can slothfully sleep late I do not. As it turns out, rising early is a good deal for me. Those quiet pre-dawn hours tend to be the most writing-productive hours of the day.

As I puttered around with writing the rain morphed to snow. Big, fluffy, springtime snowflakes, falling straight down with nearly the velocity of raindrops. Two smiles there -- no wind, and lots of lovely water in each and every flake. The view revealed through my east-facing office window was spectacular. Nature makes the best jewels!

The rain/snow combination we received on Monday was ideal. The initial rain was slow and gentle enough to soak in without running off, and the follow-on wet snow provided something like a "slow release" irrigation, allowing the moisture to soak in over time and preventing the runoff which would have happened with heavy rain. It's hard to imagine a better way to break -- even if only temporarily -- the present dry spell.

This time of the year the snow doesn't last very long. By Wednesday there was barely enough left to make little snowmen.

On Thursday it was sunny and quite warm, a beautiful springtime day. Just after 9 a.m. (IIRC) I was preparing to mow the back yard when the fire-tornado-nuke attack siren went off. That last bit is an interesting concept. Until Russia invaded Ukraine in February I hadn't thought about the siren in the sir raid context for a very long time. Anyway, an up-down-up siren tone means a fire department call out while a steady tone means tornado. The steady tone also means air raid, though I might be the only one who remembers that fact. So far as the tornado alert goes, the city schedule for testing the tornado warning calls for a weekly test at 10 a.m. each Thursday. I guess 9:08 a.m. is pretty close. All of this is to introduce a video of Tommy's reaction to the siren. Possibly because I was right there he did not react as he usually does.

That evening, however, he did.

It's been a very busy week since the snow but I'm starting to get my spring chores organized. Today, which is Mothers' Day, we're going to have a little Ocho de Mayo party featuring traditional Americanized Mexican food and a piñata. Cinco de Mayo was too busy for a party. I think Ocho is close enough. I'll try to get some images to share with you kind readers.

But now the littles are stirring and they're gonna need fuel! 

Be well and embrace the blessings of liberty.