Stormy Adventure
Yesterday afternoon, it was just about time for me to head to the school to walk my younger boys home, and it was starting to rain. I grabbed my rain jacket, and contemplated grabbing an umbrella, but my good, big, sturdy one has been missing (I might need to add that to the list of things stolen when the van was vandalized?) and the only one I have available is a cheap, wimpy one with two spokes broken that turns inside out with a good breeze unless angled just right. I decided to skip the umbrella and just put up the hood of my rain jacket. Then I stepped out onto the porch.
In the time I had been putting on my jacket and contemplating bringing an umbrella, the gentle rain had turned into a torrential downpour! Lightning flashed, thunder roared continuously, and pea sized hailstones were pelting the grass. I didn't want to go out in that! Hoping that the storm would pass quickly and praying that my children would stay safe, I waited there on the porch watching the hail cover the grass.
A few minutes later, John appeared and dashed to join me on the porch. It hadn't been raining when he left school, and, naturally, he didn't have a jacket with him. He was sopping wet from head to toe, and his arms were covered in tiny bruises from the hail. After a minute or two, he disappeared inside and then reappeared wearing a heavy, hooded snow coat, and he volunteered to go get the younger boys. I didn't know if they would have been dismissed from the school with the weather as it was, but I suggested that the pavilion at the park might be a good refuge from the storm if they were walking - they could stay at least until it stopped hailing. With the heavy coat to cushion him from the pelting of the hail, John bravely set off into the storm once again in search of his brothers. I wondered if the van was safe parked as it was on the street, getting pelted with hail.
After he had gone, my cell phone dinged with a message from the school, asking parents to pick up their children from the gym. I hoped that Josh and Peter were safe in the gym and that John would figure out where they were, or at least find a safe place to be. I wished that John was in the habit of having his cell phone with him so I could contact him.
A few minutes later I received a text from Hannah, who does have her cell phone, and does use it regularly. She was still at the school and wondered if I could come pick her up. I told her to stay where she was, and I would come pick her up when I could. It was still hailing.
Then John returned. He told me he had encountered his brothers as they had left the school and were starting on the way home, but had left them at the pavilion. Josh didn't have a jacket at all, and Peter's fleece jacket wasn't waterproof and didn't have a hood. I looked out into the grey storm, felt the chill breeze and heard the rumbling thunder. I needed to get my children.
John and I raced for the van. I started the engine, turned the wipers to full speed, and we set off towards the park. It was only a five minute walk away. But it was a scary drive as the road was buried under rivers of water. I worried that there would be places so deep the car would founder, but we made it to the park. Josh and Peter saw us and raced from the shelter of the pavilion to the van. As they climbed in, I noticed that the part of the park that was designed to be a water shed - an area where we occasionally go sledding in winter, had turned into a lake. Fun. I turned the car around and then we set off for the high school. By then, I think the hail had stopped, but the rain was still coming down in torrents.
The drive to the high school was scary too. At one point another car passed going the opposite direction sending a wave that shook my van, and blurred my vision for a few seconds. We reached the school safely and picked up Hannah and made the return trek home through the rain that was starting to ease slightly.
When we arrived at home, I parked the car in the garage and we made our way around to the house, wading through the lake that had accumulated in the front yard and covered the walk way to the front door. Once inside, the boys and I shed our sopping shoes, and I made the boys change out of their soaking wet clothes. It wasn't until then that I took a deep breath and relaxed. My children were home and safe. I didn't need to go anywhere else today. The storm was easing, and Steven should make it home with no difficulties in a couple hours.
The entire adventure only lasted about half and hour, but it was definitely an adventure. It wasn't until this morning as I was browsing friends' posts on Facebook that I realized how blessed I was. In other areas, the hail stones were the size of golf balls or larger and left dents in car hoods, penetrated car windshields, and broke building windows and skylights leaving buildings open to flooding in the heavy rain. See news stories: http://www.denverpost.com and https://www.washingtonpost.com/ and https://weather.com/
In the time I had been putting on my jacket and contemplating bringing an umbrella, the gentle rain had turned into a torrential downpour! Lightning flashed, thunder roared continuously, and pea sized hailstones were pelting the grass. I didn't want to go out in that! Hoping that the storm would pass quickly and praying that my children would stay safe, I waited there on the porch watching the hail cover the grass.
A few minutes later, John appeared and dashed to join me on the porch. It hadn't been raining when he left school, and, naturally, he didn't have a jacket with him. He was sopping wet from head to toe, and his arms were covered in tiny bruises from the hail. After a minute or two, he disappeared inside and then reappeared wearing a heavy, hooded snow coat, and he volunteered to go get the younger boys. I didn't know if they would have been dismissed from the school with the weather as it was, but I suggested that the pavilion at the park might be a good refuge from the storm if they were walking - they could stay at least until it stopped hailing. With the heavy coat to cushion him from the pelting of the hail, John bravely set off into the storm once again in search of his brothers. I wondered if the van was safe parked as it was on the street, getting pelted with hail.
After he had gone, my cell phone dinged with a message from the school, asking parents to pick up their children from the gym. I hoped that Josh and Peter were safe in the gym and that John would figure out where they were, or at least find a safe place to be. I wished that John was in the habit of having his cell phone with him so I could contact him.
A few minutes later I received a text from Hannah, who does have her cell phone, and does use it regularly. She was still at the school and wondered if I could come pick her up. I told her to stay where she was, and I would come pick her up when I could. It was still hailing.
Then John returned. He told me he had encountered his brothers as they had left the school and were starting on the way home, but had left them at the pavilion. Josh didn't have a jacket at all, and Peter's fleece jacket wasn't waterproof and didn't have a hood. I looked out into the grey storm, felt the chill breeze and heard the rumbling thunder. I needed to get my children.
John and I raced for the van. I started the engine, turned the wipers to full speed, and we set off towards the park. It was only a five minute walk away. But it was a scary drive as the road was buried under rivers of water. I worried that there would be places so deep the car would founder, but we made it to the park. Josh and Peter saw us and raced from the shelter of the pavilion to the van. As they climbed in, I noticed that the part of the park that was designed to be a water shed - an area where we occasionally go sledding in winter, had turned into a lake. Fun. I turned the car around and then we set off for the high school. By then, I think the hail had stopped, but the rain was still coming down in torrents.
The drive to the high school was scary too. At one point another car passed going the opposite direction sending a wave that shook my van, and blurred my vision for a few seconds. We reached the school safely and picked up Hannah and made the return trek home through the rain that was starting to ease slightly.
When we arrived at home, I parked the car in the garage and we made our way around to the house, wading through the lake that had accumulated in the front yard and covered the walk way to the front door. Once inside, the boys and I shed our sopping shoes, and I made the boys change out of their soaking wet clothes. It wasn't until then that I took a deep breath and relaxed. My children were home and safe. I didn't need to go anywhere else today. The storm was easing, and Steven should make it home with no difficulties in a couple hours.
The entire adventure only lasted about half and hour, but it was definitely an adventure. It wasn't until this morning as I was browsing friends' posts on Facebook that I realized how blessed I was. In other areas, the hail stones were the size of golf balls or larger and left dents in car hoods, penetrated car windshields, and broke building windows and skylights leaving buildings open to flooding in the heavy rain. See news stories: http://www.denverpost.com and https://www.washingtonpost.com/ and https://weather.com/
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