Windy with a Chance of Hail and Tornadoes

/ Quirky Girl

Butterflies, dragonflies, mosquitos…

Oh, my!

Well, t’is the season, after all.

Trees and grass are finally springing back to life in all their springy green glory.

Bright, aromatic flowers are in full, allergy-inducing bloom.

Colossal bugs are buzzing around, draining blood from unsuspecting victims like stealthy vampires.

Oh, but let’s not forget the sunshine and warm gentle breezes!

On second thought, scratch that last one.

The sun has been making itself scarce, as forecasts of endless storms take center stage.

And the so-called breezes have been anything but gentle lately.

With wind gusts fast enough to outpace the Roadrunner, gentle is definitely not the right word.

Oh, and I recently discovered that my efforts to recycle are clearly for naught.

Earlier this week, I caught some of my recycled goods blowing right back out of the recycling bin, rapidly drifting down the street like engineless aircraft.

Straight into a massive puddle of swamp.

Which means my attempt at recycling had astoundingly resulted in littering.

Littering!

And let’s not forget about that corn dog box I encountered several days later, crushed in the middle of the road.

I’m 99.9% certain that the box in question originated from my household.

Or more specifically, my recycling bin.

My stupid, stupid recycling bin that refuses to keep its lid on.

I accidentally found myself being an accomplice to littering yet again just the other day, when the designated litter bag blew right out the open car window and into a field of cows less than a mile from our house.

Oh, the irony. 

So much for saving the environment.

Anyway…

Here’s a funny story to take the spotlight off of myself:

Years ago, I had these really cool environmental license plates on my car. 

One day, a passenger (who shall remain nameless) had the audacity to toss trash out my window. 

Seriously.

Littering from a car boasting environmental pride.

Not cool.

I couldn’t sleep for days afterward.

Which isn’t surprising, when you consider I’ve actually been known to chase after my airborne trash.

But there is a time and place for everything.

Besides, I couldn’t imagine running after my rubbish among herds of cattle- namely Longhorns and bulls- being a wise decision.

I must say, I’ve lived in states with some rather erratic weather over the years, but never before have I experienced extremes like this.

Good thing we’ve got a handy weather alert radio to scare the crap out of us at all times of the night.

It typically starts with a Severe Thunderstorm Warning.

After a matter of minutes, a Tornado Watch follows.

An hour later, it escalates to a full-blown Tornado Warning.

Meanwhile, unforecasted hail the size of baseballs pounds against the windows and roof like an onslaught of rocks launched out of cannons.

The neighbor’s trash cans tumble downhill before flipping completely upside down.

Trash littered her front yard.

(Ha! Looks like I’m not the only one accidentally littering, after all.)

The next day, my younger son and I went out back to play football in our mud pit of a yard.

Because, you know, it wasn’t raining at that particular moment.

With the wind still blowing, one of our decorative pink flamingos and the watering can just had to get in on the action.

The watering can actually caught the football as they both flew through the air from different areas of the backyard and landed together in the grass.

Phenomenal catch, watering can!

It’s safe to say that the weather here in No Man’s Land is anything but predictable.

But, hey, we have the benefit of experiencing all four seasons…

Typically, all in the course of a single week.

Take this past Christmas, for instance. 

It was a record 76 degrees that day.

Three days later, snow coated the ground.

How exciting, right?

Well, I suppose there is a reason we’ve got a well-stocked storage closet under the staircase that doubles as a storm shelter.

On the bright side, the abundant clouds in the sky make for some magical masterpieces each time the sun rises and sets.

Always, always a silver lining!

~Happy Friday, friends! If you’re amused by my weather-related chaos, be sure to also check out Sunny with a Chance of Tsunamis. Have a fantastic weekend!~

Our watering can getting in on the action by catching a football.

Our watering can getting in on the action by catching a football.

38 thoughts on “Windy with a Chance of Hail and Tornadoes”

  3. I don’t know why our recycling days always come with wind…but it’s a given I’ll be picking up someone else’s recycling after the designated trucks depart. 100% collections is rarely achieved by them because I’m almost 100% certain of finding at least one item in front of our home. Our residence sits in a “perfect” spot at the bottom of a hill where recycling often goes to be re-recycled…when the trucks visit the following week. As for weather warnings we often get them as storms are passing over us. Needless to say we just look out the window to see what’s going on. I gave up on the weather people long ago. I’m working up to giving up on the recycling people…but they don’t ask for the windy conditions. Then again, they always have pick-up days when it’s windy so maybe they’re to blame after all. 🙂

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    • I’m not overly impressed with the weather people myself, but I have to remind myself that the element of surprise involved in useless weather forecasts keeps life exciting. As for the recycling people, I probably can’t blame them for all those accidental littering incidents… but I can blame meteorologists. 😀

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  4. The Midwest has to generate more weather obsessed people than anywhere else in the world, because nowhere else is the weather as interesting as it is here… as you’ve so eloquently shown!

    By chance, did you attend this party?

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    • Fortunately, No Man’s Land is located south of the Midwest. I think it’s considered the South Central region, yet still falls in the dreaded Tornado Alley. So we tend to get the (somewhat) less severe leftovers from the chaotic weather of the Midwest. Never a dull moment in this land of extremes, that’s for sure. 😛

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  5. What a fun post to read, I was smiling all the way through – I’ve been known to pick up a grain of rice from the kitchen floor, making sure it goes into the compost bin instead of the trash bin, hello fellow recycler!

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  6. Sounds like the weather we have here in TX, with the wind blowing dirt, turning the sky brown, and then raining mudballs! We’ve been known to have a bbq in a typhoon, too (in Japan). That was fun! 🙂

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      • I agree. But I had a bad cow poop experience when I was 5… never got over it. At the county fair, in the cow barn, asking why the cow beside us was swinging its tail around. Mom yelled “Get out of the way!” but her warning was a second too late. 😦

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  8. Wow! Do you live in the midwest? Crazy weather. Stay safe. Loved the inserted story. You think the watering can be signed to the Cubs, Yankees, etc? 😎 You never fail to make me chuckle, LOL, or give me a healthy belly laugh. ❤

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  9. You truly do have an adventurous life, huh? 🙂 The good thing is that it gives you much fodder for your blog. Thanks for your posts, they are great. So glad I found you in this wordpress land! Have a wonderful and fun weekend ~Debbie ps – tornado watch? Really. Wow.

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    • I’m so glad we met in the wonderful world of WordPress, too! 🙂

      I actually get excited for mishaps and mayhem in my life, because it really does make for the best writing material. 😝

      Have an amazing weekend, my friend! 💗

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    • That watering can has skill! My son is asking me to write about the adventures of this watering can as it blows all around the backyard. Might have to get working on that one soon. 😄

      Have a great weekend! 🙂

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  13. ha ha I know your type of greenie … tossing everything about to destroy the natural beauty! Sounds like you need some kind of heavy weight on that lid or a small shed to house it? I’ve just weathered the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie here but we wimps stay inside with everything shut up for safety. Didn’t cross my mind to kick the footy around.

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