The Storm

All last night the wind whistled and moaned around the house and a small rain blew sideways against the windows.  It was a tree-falling sort of wind, and I woke up off and on all through the night, worried by what the morning might bring to light.  When morning arrived, all our trees were still standing and we'd totalled a whopping 0.01" in our rain gauge.  I knew that this was because horizontal rain throws off all measuring tools...but still I was disappointed.

All the weather reports still were talking about this band of rain that was bearing across Northern California and due to dump copious amounts wherever it passed.  The dogs and I took a walk to check out how Frogpond was looking before this storm hit. 

The pipe that drains from the hillside watershed to the pond was modestly trickling.  Meh...

Murphy had fun racing around the pond -- I think that the mixture of rain and wind cranked him up.  He was one wet, happy dog.

The island in the center of the pond has been a peninsula for over a month now. 

Down in the lower pasture, the seasonal creek was at last flowing through the pipes that go under our road. 








It was here that I discovered that my right boot had developed a serious crack. As the rest of me was already pretty much soaked by this time, one additional wet sock hardly made any difference.

Arlo and Seal had gone back up to house to get up on the porch and out of the wet.


Not Murphy -- he was a happy dog in his element...

...and I was a happy human in her element. 

Wind, rain, soaking wet -- bliss!










I came inside and got dried off and soon after the actual storm band came through.  It was cold!  The rain sheeted down.  We wished that we'd finished cleaning out the gutters as the water poured out over the tops. 


And, saints be praised, the pond began to fill.  





The pipe had a robust rush of water flowing out of it.













And soon the peninsula was an island again -- just barely, but we takes what we can get!

By mid-afternoon, the storm band was passed and blue sky shone between the streaming clouds.  It was a lovely, still winter sunset. 

OK, so I'm already pining for the next storm.