Another Day…Another Storm

This morning is starting off to be a groaner.  I wake up and realize I've already lost an hour…thanks to Daylight Savings Time.  "Spring forward – Fall back" my ass!

I guess I shouldn't really complain, but I was hoping to spend today finishing up my yard work and gardening.  Believe it or not, I'm still raking up leaves…and it's APRIL!.  This thanks to the variety of trees we have on our property…Pin Oaks.  This clever tree likes to hold on to it's leaves untill it just can't hold back the new leaves any longer.  Six hours I spent raking yesterday, and that was just 1/4 of the back yard.  I need a chainsaw.

The next three hours were spent prepping the gardens for all the pretty shit I bought to plant.  Ferns, Toad Lillies, Peonies, Sea Holly, Bird of Paradise, and a butt-load of others.  (yes, Virginia, you can raise Bird of Paradise in Missouri…you just have to baby the shit out of them.)  We will be the envy of our snooty neighbors who hate us because we're big "Mo's". (sidebar: there's a very funny story about that, but I'll save that for another post.)

Anyway, Spring is already starting out with the usual…monsoon-like rains, tornadoes, golf ball-sized hail, downed tree limbs, etc.  You know, some of the fun reasons to live in Missouri.   The last storm we had made my truck look like the moon.

So last night – surprise! – another round of really scary storms.

No joke:  Our neighbor called early this morning saying their toilet blew up.  During the storm, lightning struck just behind (or very near) their house and one of their upstais toilets blew up.  "Was anyone…you know…using it?", I asked (SO wanting to lose it in laughter).  (I mean, what a way to "go")  They just bought the house and wanted to know who to call first.  Having just been awoke, my response was a terse, "Well, it looks like you chose to call me first.  Thanks for the laugh, but you should really call the plumber."  I gave him the number and hung up.  (It was 7:00 Am on Sunday, after all!! Tempest needs his coffee and a fag!!!)

Today is supposed to be the same scenario – Beautiful (if overcast) day, a tad on the humid side, windy.  I should be able to finish up the raking and cleaning outside…but no.  I looked online at the radar and sure enough, the new line of storms are building up in central Kansas and heading this was as they build.  At this rate, I should be done raking in October.