Yesterday we had
weather. Did I say
weather? Well I really meant
WEATHER!! Our meteorologists around here have a pretty cush job. We have 6 months of summer where the forecasts are always "hot". The "hot" forecasts are only rarely accompanied with the arrival of the monsoon. Then we have some pretty good storms.
The thing is - the monsoons are long gone and yet yesterday we had
WEATHER!! It was somewhat like a monsoon but very strange at the same time.
Monsoon storms include wind, dust storms (see mom's post), clouds, thunder, lightning, rain, rain, and more rain, plus a slight chance of hail. These storms usually blow in and out in one movement.
Yesterday the storm included most of the above listed things - so yesterday the
WEATHER was an extreme happening. The day started with partly cloudy skies and some nice breezes. Playing tennis was so nice! Then as the day warmed up a bit the clouds became dark in various parts of the valley. To the north was very dark and looked ominous. Also to the east. All around the valley were patches of darkened skies. During our monthly RS luncheon there was a clap of thunder and the rain started coming down. The gutters filled up and it smelled wonderful! In the early evening the storm began to really get going. We were getting intermittent rain at our house. I got a call from Doug - an
SOS really. He was riding his bike home from work and was getting soaked in the storm. He said he'd continue riding but might call back for a pick-up. About 2 minutes later he said, "I need you, come get me at the Orangewood Building (church building in our old stake at Orangewood and 47th Avenue)." So off I went. As I drove off the sky looked really dark in that area. I picked him up and he was soaked!
When we got home I was trying to cook dinner. I got a call from Isaac. He was supposed to be the starter at the Cortez HS swim meet. Guess where he was? Yep, he was hanging out at Kristina's house. The meet had been cancelled. Anyway, he called and said that Kristina's yard looked like it had snowed. The hail was coming down like crazy. In fact, it was golf ball sized hail. WHAT?! That doesn't happen in Phoenix! But sure enough he was there and was watching it come down and hearing it come down. It sounded horrendous - according to Isaac. So we said - "cool, see you later."
We got a call as he went to his car to drive home. "Mom, ummm, a piece of the drivers side rear-view mirror is missing. The glass is broken and it is falling apart." Oh Boy! Here we go again! I guess the hail had a direct hit and broken the mirror. Then when he came walking in the house he had a windshield wiper in his hand and said, "Hey, does anyone have an extra windshield wiper laying around?" WHAT!?! Well he was coming home and when he turned his wipers on, one of them just flew off the car - the entire thing! Oh Boy!
Oh Boy!!
Close
Closer
Closest
So Dad and I went out to take a look. Sure enough there wasn't a wiper there - and with the current weather they needed to get it replaced - and fast! But as we were out there looking at the damaged windshield wiper and the cracked rear-view mirror we were able to see much more. There were tons of small dimples on the body of the car from the huge hailstones hitting it. Oh Boy!
Oh Boy!! Oh Boy!!!
After owning and babying that car for 10 years it got crashed into 2 weeks ago and now it is getting torn apart and dimpled by a freak storm! Just our luck.
One good thing is that if, I did say IF, the insurance company doesn't "total" the car and decides to fix it for us, they are going to put on entire door panels - that would mean the mirror would also be included. So that damage would be taken care of. Dad and Isaac went out last night and got a new wiper and installed that post haste. As for the dimples - I guess that will just make our car more identifiable and give it more character.
I can't really complain about the
weather. Any storm that brings rain is a true blessing and we love it. So, thank you
WEATHER, we do still love you.
