Monday, May 4, 2009

Why I'd rather have been at the circus

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I had a picture all lined up for this week's Ruby Tuesday post - see it up there? My mom took it when she and my dad brought the kids to the circus over Passover. Looks cool doesn't it? Impressive acrobatics, glitzy costumes, and definitely very, very red. Good choice for today's post? I thought so too.
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I'd much rather have been imagining a trip to a circus than dealing with what I had to deal with today:
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The wind did that. All of that. The white you see in the sky isn't fog - it's dust. Thick, choking, dust. And the wind? It's HOT.
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That bent metal rod? We'd put it in the shed doors to try and keep them from blowing open.
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It didn't work. The wind blew so hard it BENT the metal and left the doors open anyway.
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We had the mother of all wind and dust storms today.
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Holy crap was it loud. And scary. And did I mention loud? And HOT too - the house is getting really stuffy with all the windows closed but I don't want to turn on the A/C because I'm afraid of clogging the filters with the dust! I was up and down all night from the noise, and from worrying about something important blowing off the roof to kingdom come. So much for a decent night's sleep.
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This was a major one. Besides knocking over my big potted palm tree, again, it ripped off part of my pergola top and worse it ripped a water hose right out of my hot water tank and flooded mine and my neighbor's roofs. I spent half the day locating a plumber who could get here immediately to fix it. Thank god I did too, because he said the tank had leaked and was completely empty and about to go sailing nine stories down to the ground! While he was up there fixing it he also saw that another neighbor has lost her a/c unit - it was lying on its side pouring out gas all over the floor!
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Several homes in nearby towns caught fire when power lines came down, our electricity went in and out a few times, and the sky is so white you'd swear you were in the middle of a whiteout blizzard. Very freaky and end of world-ish. It's nearly 7:30pm and only now is the storm showing early signs of breaking.
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All told, I'd rather have been at the circus.
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31 comments:

Jennifer said...

Yikes, that sounds powerful, and very scary. I'm glad y'all are okay. I hope your palm wasn't damaged too badly. And yay for the plumber coming out in the middle of it all to do the repairs.

Scribbit said...

No my dear you'd have rather been here! What a great weekend! :)

Mojo said...

Sounds very Armageddon-ish. Or Tel Meggido-ish. Or apocalyptic (ish?)

Keep your head down kiddo. Sounds like somebody is supremely pissed off at Tel Aviv or something. Glad you're okay.

And the circus shot is cool as all get out! Oh to meet a woman that limber...

Kitchenmaus said...

My...its dangerous no? I hope you are safe, wand hopefully better days...Take care!

Libby's Library said...

Sounds scary - it had to have really been blowing to knock over that potted tree and bend the metal on the shed!

maryt/theteach said...

Wow, Robin! That sounds terrible! And You have to stay inside I'm guessing or end up eating sand! Hope it's over now...and things are back to normal. :) Happy Ruby Tuesday! That circus pic is great - can't tell where one body begins and the other ends!

Phyllis Sommer said...

crazy!!!! glad to hear you're all okay tho...

Anonymous said...

Holy heck! I know those winds, we get them here too, many of them this past winter. Keep your head down!

EG CameraGirl said...

I'd have preferred to have been at the circus too. Wish I were as flexible as the circus performers above.

My post is at
http://moreofme24.blogspot.com/2009/05/cow-barn-ruby-tuesday.html

Felisol said...

Hello Robin,
I'm glad you are OK.
Things can be replaced. People not.
We have hurricanes as well here west.
No dust though.
I definitely would not like that.
I am a known to be lousy dust buster.

I'd prefer the circus any day. Even a circus tent in storm.
From Felisol

kayerj said...

yeah, the circus would have been nice--nothing to clean up, just smile and go home :) Hope everything is good.

bichonpawz said...

Yikes! That sounds so scary!! So glad to hear that you all are ok and you were able to get a plumber to come help out. Hope the rest of your week is much better!!

anymommy said...

I saw your tweet about this storm. Wow. Scary. Glad that you made it through with fairly minor damage!

Arlene said...

that really looks cool, Robin - the top one.

Sad to know of the wind storm that caused the dust storm. I just think that when nature hits, the power is beyond human's ability to stop.

Marie Reed said...

Holy Moly! You poor sleepy thing! I can imagine that you were worried sick! I have NEVER seen wind bend metal! Thank goodness that you are safe and sound!

eastcoastlife said...

What's happening!? That's a powerful strong wind and I dread dust. There will be lots of cleaning.
yucks.

Horsoon said...

Sounds like you had an exciting weekend ;p

I agree, I'd choose to be in the circus too!

DrillerAA said...

The circus shot is perfect for a Ruby Tuesday. And your right, I'd rather be at the circus than dealing with the elements any day. Too much rain has been the issue here recently. Have a great RT anyway.

allhorsestuff said...

Hullo again~
Nice red women!
I am amazed with how windy it was here yesterday last night and it even continues today...then I come on over here to read you too, all the way across the globe, have the
wind the blows where no one knows...I think of God and how He scatters the wind...it is hitting all over! It blew away the "Grandpa Flower"!
Kac

Unknown said...

it bent METAL? that's insane. glad you guys are alright!

Amanda Guthrie said...

You poor thing, my heart goes out to you. I did like your RT I have always envied people that can express their artistic nature physically like that it is amazing!

Daryl said...

My back is wonky .. went out a week ago today ... and it was feeling better ... til today .. and then I saw that photo .. THAT is how my back feels .. twisted!!!!

Glad you got the plumber and I hope things have calmed down

srp said...

Wow! What a dust storm! We had a tornado just a few miles from our house last night but the winds were very focused. I hope today is better!

My first Ruby Tuesday is here.

Dianne said...

high winds always scare me
sorry about all the damage!

the acrobat photo is beautiful

hope the weather is being kinder to you now

Ralph said...

The circus performers look as one. What a trick...

I am not a fan of wind, Noreasters and so on. But as you know, in the Northeast US, we aren't getting wind and sand at the same time.

I hate losing sleep to loud winds at night!

Stan said...

Gee, guess I won't complain so much about the wind in Reno, which can get mighty fierce at times.

Tina - omme i London said...

Yikes - that sounds really scary!
I'm glad the storm has lulled. :)

Laura said...

That is a serious wind storm! I am glad all is okay. Sorry for the damage.

Catherine said...

Robin, your mother's shot is perfect. One wonders where does the body begin and where does it end. Absolutely circus colored.

That sounds like a tornado, no ?
Does it happen often, or is it exceptional ? I never experiment such weather conditions, I think I would feel scary, too. Even more my children. And yours ?

Glennis said...

I do like the gymnasts photo, amazingly lined up!
Hope you don't get too many dust storms.
Your Island is so tidy and neat it wouldn't look so good with a covering os dust from the storm.

Shannon said...

Oh my goodness! I can't believe you had such a destructive wind storm. I have never seen a full fledged storm like that. I can imagine that would be pretty loud and scary!