Close call!

It is so very dry up here all the time. Even after a day of rain, the sun comes out, the wind picks up and its super dry again, always dusty and the ground is always hard. It has rained a few times since we have been up here but nothing to bad. We seem to live right where the storms form and then they move east. It could be a beautiful day, clear skies one minute and the next the scariest looking cloud is a brewing! The last 2 nights we have had good rain! Both storms have formed to the west of us and have moved our way and stayed for a few hours. Yesterday and today the ground has been wet, sloppy, and so not dusty! Cody decided to take advantage of this and start working on the winter food plots for the deer in the high fence. Last Spring when he was working on the summer food plot, it was dry and the disc just wasn't cutting it, and he ended up going over each food plot about 6 times each with the disc. Since we had good rains and the ground was actually wet he wouldn't have to go over them as much. So he started this afternoon and decided to disc them all once tonight before he quit and he would be home late.

I was starving about 5 and went ahead and made dinner and put the rest in the oven. Cody called about 7 and said something was wrong with the disc and he needed me to come pick him up so he could look for something in the barn. The only way to get to him was by 4-wheeler. I could have taken the hummer out for its first mountain/canyon adventure, but figured I would stick to the 4-wheeler! I finally make it to him, he hops on and we head back to the house. Half way home a scary looking cloud formed above us and starting lighting like crazy! It was pretty scary. We made it to the barn, the cloud passed and Cody was fixin to head back out. He was just gonna take the 4-wheeler back out with him, finish the discing, and bring the 4-wheeler back and I could drop him back off tomorrow so he could finish. Before he left he decided to come home first and eat before he headed out.

He comes home, eats super fast and 15 minutes later he heads back out and said see ya late tonight. He was gone maybe 2 minutes and comes back in and says, "nevermind, here comes another scary looking cloud and then the bottom fell. It was raining so hard. I was thinking, glad u came home to eat first or you would have been stuck on that 4-wheeler in this terrential down pour! Another 10 minutes pass and we could here a little hail. We step on the front porch to see how big the hail is and it's probably the size of quarters, and not coming down to hard or to many. Another 10 seconds pass and they are coming down hard and of course all I think about is the hummer! Cody suggest we take it to the barn, I run and get my rain boots, I get in my vehicle and Cody gets in his truck and I follow him to the barn. By the time we make it to the barn the hail is the size of golf balls and not coming down to terribly hard and Cody has to get out of his truck and open the barn door and I pull in! By the time I get out of my car it is coming down so hard you can barely see 5 feet out and the ground is completely white! Cody then decides he needs to bring in the truck too, finds a cow feed sac and runs to his truck! That so had to hurt! He made it back! Then he decides he needs to bring in the tractor :( He finds a bucket this time because it is coming down harder! Before he can get to the tractor the bucket goes flying off his head, not sure if the hail knocked it off or he threw it off before he got in the tractor. He made it back! We finally realize Cody would have been stuck on the 4-wheeler out in the middle of the high fence if he hadn't come home first to eat and I would have been home by myself and probably would have tried to take my vehicle to the barn by myself and I can never get that huge door open and I would have been stuck in the hail too! We just stand in the metal barn (the noise of the hail was soooo loud we couldn't even hear each other talk) for about 15 minutes. I make the comment, "glad there isn't a tornado warning too" and Cody says, there was! I' am getting scared at this point because I am thinking the run to Jeff's basement sure is gonna hurt with all this hail and that the hail would hurt us before a tornado would reach us! Luckily by this time we start to see clear skies and the scary storm passes us. I leave my car in the barn and we bring Cody's truck back home and check on the dogs. Poor babies, they have never experienced hail before. They looked a little in shock when I reach them, but luckily they have a pretty big shelter! :) Cody picks up some hail and gets the camera and they are still pretty big chunks after 10 minutes of just sitting there and melting.


Now I am worried about the deer in the breeder pens! It will do more damage going out there and scaring them with a spotlight, so we will have to wait till the morning. I hope all the babies were smart enough to go to the shelters!


Karen