Some storm!

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the city as evidenced by my run in the morning. But things changed in the late afternoon. Jen came over to watch our kids so we could sing at Mass. When we were ready to get back home, someone said it had been hailing outside. We had no idea it had even stormed while in church. The hail seemed to have subsided, so we ran for the car. We got about ten blocks and the hail hit again. Man, was it loud in the car! We tried to get under a tree, but didn't get to one that was big enough to shelter us. So we sat there for about five minutes, and watched the hail accumulate on the ground. I could do nothing but laugh as I had never seen so much hail in my life. It was probably nickel sized-hail.

The hail finally stopped and we got home to make sure everyone was okay in the house. Everyone was fine. Then we took a better look around. I got the kids cups so they could collect some of the hail. They were amazed by the huge tree that had fallen across the street from us. Because of all the noise the hail made, they hadn't even heard the tree fall! Our neighbor was the one who noticed our tree was stripped of all its leaves. The gardens we just planted last week were pelted pretty hard. We're not sure how everything will recover. We'll just give it time.

(The tree across the street from our house)

(Cate and Max ready to collect some hail)

(Max looking up at our now leafless tree)

(Our now leafless tree)

(Our poor hosta garden)

(Cate showing off her cup of hail)

Today we spent the day cleaning up--raking, sweeping, bagging, washing, mowing. It was a good thing we didn't have any other firm plans for the day. Cate and Max climbed in and around the fallen tree making friends with neighbor kids, which was long overdue. So Cate ended up spending a good deal of her day running back and forth with her newfound friends, some of whom go to the same school she will be going to in the fall. We hope this will only be the first of her fun with friends this summer.

Clearly, I have lived a very "cush" life. I have blisters on my hands and sore arms from the work and the sun, but it's alright by me. And as my dad always says after a long, productive day, "the bed is going to feel good tonight!"