CHASING DOWN A COUPLE AFTERNOON STORM CELLS

Another fine early summer morning with a nice breeze and not as hot as the past few days.  It was 8:40 a.m. when a van with dark windows slowly approached our driveway and stopped.  I was at the head of our lane waiting for that van.  It was Richard of course and it was his turn to drive for our first August country road coffee tour .  Ten minutes later we were picking up coffee and muffins at Clinton's Tim Horton coffee shop and it was off out into the countryside we went with a short tour through Clinton's north end first.  Another pleasurable few hours well spent in meaningful conversation. 

RICHARD SWINGS AROUND THE CORNER TO PICK ME UP

WE STOPPED ON THIS OLD BRIDGE FOR A LEG STRETCH AND SPOTTED SOME SPIDER WEBS IN A CLUMP OF CEDAR TREES NEARBY

YOU MAY NOTICE SOME OF THESE SPIDER PHOTOS ARE A TOUCH OUT OF FOCUS

 

Back home again and settled in for another most likely boring afternoon I happened to click on our live radar site and was immediately heartened to see two major storm cells bearing down on our area.  One coming right up along the coastline from a southerly direction and a second one bearing in from the southeast.  Looked like they may even converge right over Bayfield.  Well that sure got my excitement going and out the door I went with camera in hand and headed for Bayfield’s Pioneer Park to see what I could see. 

HEADING INTO BAYFIELD I COULD SEE THE LEADING CLOUD FRONT COMING IN

BOATERS SPOTTED THE DARK CLOUDS APPROACHING AS WELL AND MADE A BEE-LINE FOR THE SAFETY OF THE HARBOR

COULD SEE ONE OF THE STORM CELLS COMING UP THE LAKE

Yes there were dark clouds alright south of Bayfield along the coast but I could tell the brunt of the storm cells were going to come in east of Bayfield so without further ado I hopped back into the Jeep and retraced my steps back past our 5 Seasons Park and out into the countryside where it was immediately obvious we were about to drive right across the storms path.  Bonus.

CLOUDS ARE FORMING UP FOR A GOOD STORM

NO RAIN YET AT THIS POINT BUT I’M SURE THIS FARMER WAS IN A BIG HURRY TO GET THAT LOAD TO WHEREVER IT WAS GOING BEFORE THE STORM SWEPT THROUGH

Headed for my favorite ‘night sky’ spot on Stirling’s Line and pulled off the road beside a recently harvested wheat field.  I was out of the Jeep less than a minute taking a few photos when I could hear a growing sound approach.  The ‘swish’ grew louder and seconds later the rains were upon me.  Quickly back into the Jeep I sat there as the rain grew heavier and louder on the roof.  I thought for sure it was hail but looking out I could not see anything bouncing off the hood of the Jeep but it was if the water itself was harder than normal.  The downpour only lasted maybe a minute then was gone.  I could hear thunder to the east and saw lightning in the southeast.  Looking off towards Bayfield about 4 miles to the southwest I saw broiling dark clouds forming up from the second storm cell.  I quickly headed back towards Bayfield taking photos along the way.

I WAS OUT OF THE JEEP JUST LONG ENOUGH TO TAKE THREE PHOTOS OF THE STORM PASSING FROM RIGHT TO LEFT EAST OF OUR LOCATION

HEARD A SWISHING SOUND COMING UPTHE ROAD AND SECONDS AFTER  I TOOK THIS PHOTO THE RAINS WERE UPON ME

THE SECOND  FAST APPROACHING STORM CELL HAD ALREADY WRAPPED  ONE OF VARNA’S CO-OP FEED MILLS IN RAIN ABOUT 3 MILES AWAY

THE DARK AREA SHOWS A SPORADICALLY WET ROAD AND YET ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LINE THE ROAD IS PERFECTLY DRY

HEADING WEST ON BAYFIELD RIVER ROAD I MANAGED A FEW MORE PHOTOS OF THE SECOND STORM CELL COMING IN

THIS FARMER BLEW BY ME ABOUT 350 MPH RACING TO GET THOSE BALES OF HAY INTO HIS BARN BEFORE THE RAIN GETS HERE

Five minutes later I was again pulled off on a country road being pelted by and even heavier and longer duration of torrential rain as the storm cell passed overhead moving north.  Rains let up but didn’t stop altogether.  I could see the bulk of the storm cells had passed through so I headed on home.  Still moderately raining as I bundled my camera under a jacket and headed into the house.  I love storms and to get out and chase one around looking for some photos is an interestingly exciting time for me.  So great to have something like that to do instead of sitting in the house looking out the window.  Knowing Pheebs would be better off staying in the house with Kelly I didn’t take her with me………………

PICKING UP SOME RAIN AGAIN

In a few months I will be 73 and if I make it I will no doubt be surprised by my luck over the years in living this long.  I would never have guessed it but when I quit drinking in late October of 1979 unbeknownst to me the odds of me living longer suddenly increased.  Took awhile for that understanding to sink in but by golly here I am nearly 38 years later still walking and talking.  Back in my drinking days I sometimes wonder what the odds actually were of me making it this far.  I’m not one for talking much about those days.  Yes I have a lot of colorful stories I could tell but I prefer to leave those stories where they are.  It was a different time, a different place, and I was a different person.  Not a bad person really, just someone always trying to be someone else I guess………………..

‘WOW’ NEAT-O GROOVY STORM GOING ON OUT HERE:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A friend hosted a dinner party for people from work and everyone was encouraged to bring their children. All during the sit-down dinner one co-worker's three-year-old girl stared at the man sitting across from her. The girl could hardly eat her food from staring.  The man checked his tie, felt his face for food, patted his hair in place, but nothing stopped her from staring at him. He tried his best to just ignore her but finally it was too much for him. He asked her, 'Excuse me little girl, but why do you keep staring at me?'  Everyone at the table had noticed her behavior, and the table went quiet for her response. The little girl said, 'I just want to see how you drink like a fish.'

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- “When I took first place in the sewing competition, I thought that I had better quilt while I was ahead.”

- I can't stand my spouse's family and she can't stand mine. We're kin dread souls.

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You've all heard of the Air Force's ultra-high-security, super-secret base in Nevada, known simply as "Area 51"?  Well, late one afternoon, the Air Force folks out at Area 51 were very surprised to see a Cessna landing at their "secret" base. They immediately impounded the aircraft and hauled the pilot into an interrogation room. The pilot's story was that he took off from Las Vegas, got lost, and spotted the Base just as he was about to run out of fuel. The Air Force started a full FBI background check on the pilot and held him overnight during the investigation.  By the next day, they were finally convinced that the pilot really was lost and wasn't a spy. They gassed up his airplane, gave him a terrifying "you-did-not-see-a-base" briefing, complete with threats of spending the rest of his life in prison, told him Las Vegas was that-a-way on such-and-such a heading, and sent him on his way.  The next day, to the total disbelief of the Air Force, the same Cessna showed up again. Once again, the MP's surrounded the plane ... only this time there were two people in the plane.  The same pilot jumped out and said, "Do anything you want to me, but my wife is in the plane and you have to tell her where I was last night!"

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Knock Knock
Who's there?
Nuisance!
Nuisance who?
What's nuisance I saw you last!