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Saturday, April 26, 2014

It's Thundering!

Anyone who reads my blog knows by now how afraid I am of thunderstorms! This great fear was passed down to me from my dear sweet Mother.



That's right. Mama kept an overnight bag packed and at the first sound of thunder, she left her little home and went somewhere, anywhere, as long as she was not alone. Now I experience those same feelings. My first thought when it thunders, run!

We are under a severe thunderstorm warning at this very moment! The sky is getting dark, it is beginning to rain, and I hear thunder. Yikes! The power just went off and the generator has kicked in. Trying hard here to be brave.  

Back before there were so many weather reports and doppler radar and such, it was just considered normal to have a thunderstorm. The TV didn't stay on all day back then so the only way we knew there was a storm coming was when we saw a dark cloud or heard the thunder. Now we are warned days ahead. Everything is severe now!

I remember mama and us children being up at Aunt Ruby's on a hot summer day. Us children playing, mama and Aunt Ruby sitting in the shade. Remember those pale green metal yard chairs? Anyway, a summertime thunderstorm would come up. I can just hear mama saying, "I believe it's coming up a storm". 

I used like staying a few nights at Aunt Ruby's. She had a daughter named Clara Sue. Clara Sue had the biggest box of scraps ever! There were fabric scraps, rick rack, lace, old greeting cards, lots of paper...we made stuff. Clara Sue and me...



Seems to me like people stayed outside a lot more back then. We would cut a watermelon or cantaloupe and eat it outside. I remember once eating cantaloupe and I was going to throw the rind out of the front yard. I aimed too low and hit Ralph right in the head. Ralph was Clara Sue's brother.

Dear Friends, I started this post yesterday during the storms...trying to be brave and stay calm. I made it safely through the first storm, all by myself. Thankfully, Poppy got home as the second storm started, in fact he had to sit in the truck for a while because of the wind and hail! 

There were several storms and tornado warnings and rain! Our rain gauge holds five inches and it was filled to the top. The power did not come back on until late, 10:30 or so. The new generator worked great, by the way!

The worst thing that happened during these storms was getting all that rain too quickly. The pond was running over! There was a female Wood Duck sitting on about fourteen eggs. Her nest was on the dam hidden in the weeds near the water's edge. The rising water flooded her nest and the eggs were lost in the pond. This morning the water had gone down some so Poppy and I took the net and scooped out some of the eggs and placed them in the waterlogged nest...probably too late. The poor duck has been swimming on the pond most of the day.

Thank you for tolerating my ramblings on this two day post. It helped get me through the storms!

Love.
Henny Penny




21 comments:

  1. I love the old photos !
    Sorry about the storms ~ thunderstorms ( we get some real rip roarers) have never bothered,
    but a threat of a tornado would scare me to death !
    Nice that you scooped some of those eggs back into the nest , there's always a chance.
    Let us know how that turns out.

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  2. Hey Willow. I'm having trouble getting your blog to show up on "blogs I follow". Probably something dumb I am doing. Thank you for the nice comment. I checked and the mother wood duck is on her nest again. You are right. There is always a chance!

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  3. Just watching the ABC news about all the tornadoes in N. Carolina. Hope you guys are okay. Take care

    victoria in indiana

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    1. Thank you. We are fine. Today has been beautiful again!

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  4. I remember sleeping out on my grandfather's upper porch during rain storms in Oklahoma - although I can't remember if any of them involved thunder. I am now very uneasy about lightening, probably proof of the fact that I know realize I'm mortal!
    Glad you made it through okay. It sounds like you had good reason to be scared.

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  5. Oh, I am sorry for Mama duck! And I thought of your garden, just getting planted.
    Thunder storms mean so much more there than here. We don't have tornadoes and giant hail and five inches of rain all at once.
    I'm glad you are safe and secure now.

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    1. I have worried so much about that mama duck. She is back on her nest. Do you think any of the eggs could hatch after being in the water? The hail didn't hurt the garden. Probably because the plants are still so small.

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  6. I love thunderstorms. I like the lightening and thunder. Our thunderstorms here are quite small compared to yours.

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    1. You know Red, I try so hard to like thunderstorms. If I am not here alone, there is something comforting about the sound of rain and thunder in the distance. I just don't like to be alone in a storm.

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  7. Thunderstorms never bothered me until we got caught in a tornado.Now they scare the bejezuss out of me and I pace up and down praying.
    Please stay safe.
    Jane x

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    1. Oh Jane, I pace too, I feel safer when I'm moving! Did you write a post about the tornado? I would like to read it.

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  8. Henny, Thunderstorms are scary and I don't care for them either. I hope the little duck comes back to her eggs. That is so sad.

    Love you!

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    1. Hey Vicki, Spring finally gets here and brings along storms! I'm still glad to see spring. That mama duck got back on her nest but it may be too late. Love you.

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  9. Dear Henny, I have a small fear of thunderstorms myself. I sort of miss not knowing they are coming. Remember being outside and trying to outrun them to get in the house? It was scary and heart pounding, but when you outran them and got in the house, you felt like you had done a big deal, huh? I love your post - especially about Clara Sue! Love, Terry

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    1. You are right Terry. I miss not knowing too. I remember running to get inside and once inside you felt safe. Now we listen for days about the storms that are coming and I'm scared even inside. I would be better off to not listen at all. Love you, Henny

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  10. My Mother was afraid of them too...she would go from window to window wringing her hands. Thankfully I don't have a fear but a great fascination with them. Chance howevver is very afraid he hides in the bathroom or the laundry/furnace room...not sure why..no windows maybe. The poor wood duck must be looking for her eggs...if they cool down too much they won't hatch..darn. We had Snow Thunder the other day:)

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  11. The wood duck came back to her nest and was sitting on the egg. Late today she had covered the eggs with grass and was gone. Now they are saying we could get 2 to 3 inches of rain this week, again! Is snow thunder a thunderstorm with snow instead of rain?

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  12. Your weather can be quite scary, I don't blame you for worrying about the thunderstorms. We get the occasional thunderstorm here, which is always kind of exciting for us, until we get a crash directly overhead, and then it falls into the scary category!
    Unless the dip in the pond was very brief for the eggs, I don't think they will survive. I wonder if there were no eggs at all, that the wood duck might lay another clutch? Quite often they know when the eggs are duds, and push them out of the nest.

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  13. How interesting.
    Before I got married I had been in a shelter two times for bad weather and saw the tornado both times. Hubby's dad was terrified of them because he was in Guion when it blew almost the entire town away. He went to the cellar every time it rained almost.

    I just watch the animals, the skies and listen to my bones to know a bad storm is coming.

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  14. That is definitely a "come hither" look if I ever saw one.

    Victoria in Indiana

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  15. I have heard that N Carolina weather has been very wet and scary the past few days, and I always think of you and your family and animals. Hope all is well, and that you won't have too much to clean up! Take care.

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