Friday, April 24, 2009

A Note on Drowning

I am pretty sure that if you live in the midwest you have to love thunderstorms and I am no exception! I was so excited driving to my parents' house Friday (Yes a week ago I realize) because we were in for some storm action. I think my parents' house is perfectly situated because they seem to get the most excitement out of thunderstorms. Saturday started out sunny and gorgeous and then it started to sprinkle so we decided to do our gardening inside. It was probably the smartest we've been because we were hit with TORRENTIAL downpours. This post is all about the aftermath of that storm and the hilarity that ensued.
That is the plot of land my mom has tilled to use as her vegetable garden (Quite a bit bigger than my "mobile garden"). You can see the standing water on the mud and in the yard. There were spots where I was standing in probably 8 inches of water. Ridiculous. Mom's original goal was to get her seedlings into the garden that weekend...good thing we didn't get it before the rain.
The storm came in from the south and came down so hard that the little hole in the window was not big enough and the window sill was filling up with water. I didn't get a picture of my mom draining it--she used a turkey baster and a flower vase...I couldn't get my camera I was laughing too hard. So this is my dad drilling another hole fore the water to escape through.
(Side note about my dad's right hand: the vicious neighbor dog was attacking our dog, Junior, dragging him on the ground by his ear. Dad tried kicking and pulling but nothing was working so he punched the evil beast on top of the head. Dad broke his hand...the dog was unfazed.)

Before dad could actually use the drill, it had to charge but the battery was stuck on the drill . This struggle of trying to get the drill apart from the battery with a gimp and a short little redhead went on for about 5 minutes before I came to rescue. I personally love the drill bits in my dad's mouth. Mom was quite afraid that this shot was going to look like a dirty picture...so I'm pretty sure the use of power tools suggests they're not doing something right. Or I fear for my mom's safety. I haven't decided which yet.
As you can see, my dad had already let go at this point but this picture makes me laugh so hard. Mom is SO ready for the next pull. Her legs are braced in a lunge to absorb the shock and she has her game face on! You may not think it is as funny...but I'm laughing right now just remembering it.
A casualty of the storm. My mom had seedlings ready to go in the ground that had outgrown their seedling pots. Since the ground wasn't ready and my mom is resourceful she moved the seedlings into shoeboxes and set them outside on the patio table...under the edge of the eaves. So with the downpour and the subsequent runoff from the roof (the house has no gutters) the seedlings were lambasted with water. We moved the salvageable ones into the back mud room area of the house and left several outside floated in their own watery graves. Some have succumb to their injuries. My mom was quite upset...so I'm trying to stifle my laughter.
This is Muffin. Yes, you read that correctly. This monster is MUFFIN or, as my dad calls him, The Muffinator. He was my mom's empty nest dog (she still has not had a truly empty nest except for almost a year while Evan was on his Mission.) All of our other animals can be trusted to go out in the yard, romp in the fields, and return home in a timely manner. Not Muffin. He still has to be on a chain when he is outside. In the chaos of trying to rescue the drowned seedlings, Muffin escaped. For several hours he was having the time of his life running through fields and ponds and storm-made lakes and rolling in the mud. Mom finally chased him down in the car after dinner and this is what came in through the front door. You can't really tell inthis picture but his wet hair curls around his ears and looks like a bad eighties crimp perm. Hilarious. Of course after coming in he had to be snuggled and tried to play the sad puppy for having to be out in the rain. PANSY!
Leaving for dinner we saw this. A perfectly arched bright rainbow. The other end was on the other side of the house. Thank goodness the rainbow is a promise that God will not WHOLLY flood the earth again. I don't think my camera could capture the antics of any more flooding than we experienced last weekend in Carthage, MO.

4 comments:

Brittany said...

I'm jealous! I love the rain there!

Jenny said...

That story is too funny! Your poor dog. What a little cutie pie. He didn't know what he was getting himself into in that rain. Hope you're enjoying your new home!

Christal said...

Hooray! You found me, and I found you! From one KS girl to another....glad you came HOME! :)

Kylie Walker said...

Hey Halls! What's your e-mail address so I can invite you to my blog? There were internet creepo's creeping on our baby so we had to go private. I hope you an Johnny are doing well and enjoying your new home and the new job (I guess not so new anymore)