Designs by KN blog

My FOs this week must remain a secret, as they are projects due for publication in print later this year and cannot be revealed until then.  The FOs will remain hidden, just as the dangerous storm lurking in our area on Wednesday afternoon, June 6, 2012 remained hidden from our Colorado community until 8:00 p.m. At that time, the ominous skies opened, tornado warnings sounded on TV and radio, and for the first time in 20 years since we moved into this house, we took shelter in our basement.

The hail began. We could hear the ping-ping as heavy rain and hailstones started falling and bouncing all around. Some of them even made their way into the basement via the furnace vent pipe. The marble- to quarter-size hailstones ejected out through a slit above the furnace, just like a pinball machine! It was the weirdest thing, and I was able to capture some of them to record the event:

The problem with this storm was that it was very slow-moving, so the downpour, continual lightning and intense hail continued until it turned the sidewalks, streets and yards white with “snow.”

The storm’s fury did not subside until an hour later, when the power went out and that was a signal to go to bed.  The next morning revealed the aftermath:

Every broadleaf shrub and tree in the yard had been shredded, and there were shingle shards everywhere on the deck and front walk. What was once this beautiful shrub rose blossom in the morning …

was nothing but shredded petals the next morning …

Shredded leaves, shredded shingles, shredded blossoms …

Andrew was rather confused by the after-storm scene and shook his paw at the mess on the deck …

And yet, there were survivors!  Here is Baby “Hailstorm” Robin — he and his mother were out looking for breakfast the next morning.

In the evening, “After the Hailstorm” Hummingbird returned for his dinner at the feeder:

With that inspiration, those of us affected by hail damage (including a local supermarket that sustained enough roof damage to close the store) will go on with the cleanup. The plants and trees in the yard will recover too (if you’d like to view more photos of the storm’s aftermath, see my Flickr set.) And I will return to my knitting and crocheting, now that I don’t need to spend time hiding out in the basement (I haven’t done that since I was a child growing up in Missouri!)

P.S.  As to FOs for the week, I did manage to finish the cotton chenille ripple baby blanket (see previous post), before all the excitement of the wacky weather hit:

May you be sheltered and kept safe from any storms that come your way this spring and summer!

© 2012, Designs by KN. All rights reserved.