Severe Storm Warning

Joe decided today would be a good day to clean the gutters. In Woodland he could do the chore in an hour. There he was able to access the gutters easily by climbing on the roof and tossing the leaves and twigs on to the ground. Then he hosed out the silt and particles from the roof and made sure all of the downspouts were clear.

Our roof here has a steep pitch, so it meant up and down the ladder every few feet. It also meant he had to drag the hose up each time he moved the ladder. The project took four and a half hours. I sat outside in a lawn chair so I could keep an eye on him. Someone has to call 911 if there is an accident. Joe is an experienced climber and very safety conscious. Without fences though, what if a dog runs into the ladder?

We finished as the dark clouds rolled in around 4:30 pm. Just as we were finishing an early dinner at 5:00 pm, Joe saw two of the neighbor boys outside playing basketball. He asked them if they wanted the pole raised. They decided one foot higher would work for them. They told Joe they had to leave though because there was a severe storm warning, and they couldn’t play outside during rain and lightning.

About twenty minutes later it was dark outside. Here is a screenshot from the Weather application:

We are in Wright County

Unlike other cities in the area we did not get hail, nor did I see any lightning. We did get torrential rain and wind gusts of about thirty miles per hour. At one point after the rain started, I watched one neighbor boy go out and get on his family's trampoline. The trampoline is next to a tree. Gave me a moment of worry! He bounced maybe five times and then threw a ball out of the trampoline net, bounced another time, and then went into the house.

It reminded me of the times my dad jokingly would say to one of us kids in the midst of an Ohio thunderstorm, “Why don’t you kids go outside and play?”

It also reminded me of our friend Susan who loves to chase storms.

The storm has passed. Our gutters are now even cleaner, thanks to the storm. The neighbor boy lived through the storm.

It was another good day in the hood.