Who's afraid of the big bad storm?
February 1st 2008 04:15
ME!
Im not at work today, and Im feeling quite a lot of residual guilt. Dont tell me not to be guilty, because I already know - I Hate my job, I feel no responsability, I dont have to feel guilty. But the great (?) thing about emotion is you cant control it. So, I feel guilt. The same way I did when I wrangled a day off school.
I have SUCH a very good reason for not going. But I worked the weekend - Mon and Tue were my weekend, then I worked wed and thurs....Now Im off again. Last week was peppered with sick days, and Im having another one on Mon for my return to the nuero. I just keep doing it! So theres the source of my guilt. But lets get to my reason -
The Storm.
Wed arvo, I got home late after completing the Chainsaw course at work - Yes, that means Kleonaptra is government certified for the use of a large chainsaw. (Are you scared?) I wanted to work the horses but since I was late and the sky was black and rumbling I threw the feed out, put Magnus' waterproof on and battened down the hatches. 3 times I tried to put Zayfir's raincoat on - in the sticky, pressure cooker humidity - and he protested, No Mum, its NOT going to rain!
The night drew on and the temperature rose and it did not rain. Zayf was right, Magnus was hot, and when I awoke at 4AM it was even HOTTER.
Ive always had a special sensitivity to the heat. When I was younger, waking up at 7 when the sun was barely in the sky, Id already feel like I was sizzling. Thurs morn, I was unable to believe so much heat was in the air when the sun was still hours away. Where was it coming from? Why did the breeze not dissipate it? How could it climb, by the second like that? Its demonic.
On getting off the train, I saw the red sky......Red Sky in Morning is the Warning.....Bad weathers on the way. There had been a red sky on Wed as well.
At work, I dug in. 5 seconds in the boxes and sweat was running down my face like I was in a shower. Im throwing dirty straw one way, clean straw the other, arms swinging the pitchfork furiously. The horses, merely standing and watching me, have sweat dripping from their bellies. In two hours Im still not done even though some of the others are - my jeans are wet, my top is soaking and my eyes are stinging and I taste salt. Its like standing in a salty rain. My underwear has become apart of me, and the build up of sweat under my breasts is itching furiously. Every motion causes runs of sweat down my sides.
The torture finally over we finish up and head to breakfast and after, as usual, we are all too drained from losing 5 times our weight in sweat to do much. We wander, mope, try to look busy by weeding the garden as the sun beats down and we consume megalitres of water. The days winding down to that point that SHOULD be exciting....Because its nearly over....Except we now have to finish the boxes.
I begin laying the straw beds and filling them. My skin feels like its on fire and again its like being under a salty rain cloud. I run out of straw. Instead of someone bringing the forklift to lay down some pieces for me, Im instructed to 'grab the loose stuff' which means I end up filling the trolley 4 times before my 6 stables are filled. Ive never had to refill more than once!
Im crawling along by this stage. Im chanting, tonight it must rain, tonight it must rain, thinking of yesterdays afternoon that looked so dark and promising yet only left us hotter. Im feeling the pressure, still steadily rising, and I know its got to crack.
Somehow we crawl to the station and I collapse onto my air conditioned train. As usual Im not ready for the heatwave when I get off over an hour later (How bad can it be?) and almost faint when it hits me. Since theres no rest for the wicked I zoom around town, post office, rent paying, supermarket. My bus is late.
All around, black clouds are rumbling. Not one storm but at least six separate entities. From all directions. They paint wicked shapes as the cumulo nimbus spiral up, towering into the sky, and rend each other back and forth as their magnetic pressure draws them together and forces them apart.
Im beginning to think its not going to rain, after all. Im prepared for the heat to continue even if I dont know how I'll deal with it. Friday at work is already looking like hell.
I get Zayf out and work him - he still doesnt understand 'back up!' and do the rounds, checking feet and injuries while they chew their dinner. All safe and sound, I come back up.
Im relaxing in front of the tv, and go to get another drink when the wind suddenly picks up and pelts the house with a chill. I race out down the hill and throw magnus' and Zayfir's rug on. Zayfir says, "Oh, thanks mum. Its about to get wicked out here!" and I return to the house......
Im watching tv when it hits. The thunder is shaking the house and sending massive vibrations through the ground in all directions. The lightening strikes are thick and bright and close. The wind is reaching unbelievable speeds. The power fails, returns, fails and returns again.
Im now striding quickly up and down the house - the horses are running like mad idiots - Zayfir is thoroughly enjoying himself and dangerously racing the wind and urging the others to follow him. I secure Najara - who's freaking, not a fan of loud noises unless she's making them - and head out to the back deck. I start calling, "Whooawalk. Whooawalk. Easy ponies" and strictly calling to Teshan to settle them - and quickly.
Why they didnt settle under their shelter, I'll never know. But it is under a tree - maybe horses are smarter than even I think they are.
Im chasing the ducks into the laundry when amoungst the relentless drumming on the iron roof I hear - CLANG!
Oh, shit.
Hail.
Since I moved to property Ive been terrified of hail. Here I dont even have stables, and Im watching the horses lined along the back fence. Teshans carefully calling to them - "Hold, hold! Dont run boys, dont run!" But Im watching Shakir.....He's brain damaged, he overloads so very quickly. Too much input, emotion, he just explodes. He hates thunderstorms - the lashing rain in his eyes, up his nose and in his ears, he cant hear, cant see, cant smell, cant feel anything.....Except more terror. The only things that penetrate the pounding, driving, torturous rain are the bright, blinding flashes of electric light and the booming vibrations of thunder. He was already beginning to appear anxious at the storms ferocity and duration - Now, his first hail.
My eyes are locked onto him. His eyes are squinted, his ears layed back into his skull - the signiture of a very angry horse. Every line of his body looks like an arrow in a taught bow. Every time a piece of hail hits him his head skews alarmingly to the side as he tries to avoid it.
He cant take it - he breaks. He turns and bolts into the trees and spirit plunges after him. Mags and Zayf are hot on their heels - Zayf still grinning, mind you, and yelling like a 12 year old boy, "Oh, aint this FUN!!" - and Teshan follows - not fast enough to rev them up, just quick enough to keep up. "Come on, come on," Im chanting....Spirit and Teshan have to capture Shakir. He's usually their boss, but in a storm they have to pin him or he'll kill himself going through fences and/or trees. Far off in the back corner, all five flow into a loose circle and I see the move completed - Spirit on one side, Teshan on the other and no forward or back route. Magnus and Zayfir set up nearby with butts to the wind.
Every time lightening flashes and thunder blares, Shakir jumps like he'll break free of their hold, and either his mother or his best friend will bite him firmly - "Dont go mad - you are here, safe, between us, dont listen to it....Listen to me...." And press their bodies firmly against him while he quakes in terror and confusion.
With his brain damage, he just reaches a 'make it stop' stage, and if it doesnt....Well. Im sure youve seen brain damaged children wig out. Its a bit like that. But with 600kgs of power.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Is still sounding from the tin roof. Im starting to imagine all kinds of horrific injuries as the hailstones begin to get bigger and more frequent. Its my worst nightmare - the thing that cannot be controlled, cannot be stopped, capable of wiping out everything I love and me powerless. Im gripping the back deck bannister fiercely, and my surface brain is thinking of the heat, the pressure, how immense its been, and that, of course, the light, the boom and the water and cold release will be extreme. But underneath....
Sweet mother....Rain us out, wash us away.....But please, melt the hail! Please...For Shakir, your sun child....Im at your mercy, please....
The hail does stop but the rain doesnt. Its coming in sideways on the force of the wind which is now blasting the house and shaking the walls. Booms of thunder are causing pictures to leap off the walls and the lightening seems far too close. I lock the ducks up but waters coming under the door. Out the back all I can see is white - no property, no horses, just white wash. I cuddle Binky for awhile, who seems mightily distressed.
The power goes out and doesnt return. Lucky we're hippies, the candles come out.
I dont know how long it went on for....But it felt like hours. At one point I remember how parents tell their children "Its nothing to be afraid of". Tell that to the people who have a tree through the roof.
* 21,000 homes were without power
* Lightening strikes caused airport and train delays and stoppages
* Power surges still evident today
* approx 1000 homes still without power
* Trains cancelled due to fallen trees and signal failure
* roads are closed, blocked, and those that arent are slippery and dangerous with debri
And it aint over.
But last night, as it eased, I raced out into the still pouring rain to catch the last of the light. I checked Mags and Zayf were still dry - I hadnt expected their rainsheets to hold up but they did - Got rugs on Shakir and Spirit. Teshan still refused. I put out ample piles of good hay and settled them under the shelter - hugging shakir and kissing his nose and making much of him. His eyes and nostrils were big, his skin tight, looking about him furtively, but food conquered the fear quickly.
The sky rumbled. It was coming back.
In the house now it was truly dark and the candles were throwing out a magical glow. Binky could not stay up - she was clinging to me, but trying to fly in the dark and getting very angry at the lack of light. Far too dangerous for her - she could fly into something, even a candle, or fall into a cats paws....I had to put her to bed. I think I was in there over half an hour trying to convince her. I left her sitting on the edge of her nest in pitch black darkness. All I could do was hope she tucked herself in, and didnt try to fly in the dark. She was most distressed at not having a radio. All night I worried that she'd be dead in the morning from a horrid accident.
I ate a couple of cheese sandwhiches and went to bed. The storm was still booming and flashing and raining. It was too hot and we had no fan.
I got up at 4am. I got dressed - I actually got in the car and got all the way to the station. The whole suburb was out of power and I was wondering if there would even be a train....
There was not. I got back in the car and thought a moment.
If I waited for the rail bus, Id definitely be late. The bus takes so much longer - particularly on roads that are wet and covered with fallen trees. If I was late to work, Id have to STAY late to make it up, then Id go through the same crap to get home again. Id be lucky to get home before 6pm!
I was thinking about the huge piece of sheet metal Id seen on the fence, and what else might be on it. No power, no electric fence, and even if the power came back on, the fence wont work if its crushed somewhere. Even if it wasnt, it wont work waterlogged as its the cheap electric tape, not wire. So my horses would be unattended all day in inadequete fencing. And worked up from the weather. Theres Binky to consider, the ducks, the Pidge. All are going to need reconstructed habitats. Im thinking about how my property is just a massive gully, and last night during the storm the stream that cut it in two was foaming with whitewash.
There might not even be a permiter fence anymore! I thought in alarm.
Thats it - Im going back home I told mum. Too much risk and she agreed. Ive gone through P files and I know for storm damage I should be eligable for family and carers leave.
But really....Who cares? Ive got to get my fucking priorities straight honestly. I should never have even considered going to work after such an onslaught.
I go back to bed for a few hours and flick the computer on while I jump start with a coffee. A standard coffee - Kmans drank all the cappucino mix - and check the news. Its devastation and its everywhere. Im guessing, no one at work would be able to argue with my reason for staying home. When Id called the horse attendant at about 530, she'd sounded incredibly sympathetic.
After the coffee I brace myself and head out. I arm myself with a pair of shears and sissors and clip the vegatation away from the electric tape as I go. Might as well kill 2 birds with one stone. I remove bark and branches and Im amazed at how well we've gotten through. No lines are broken!
When I get into the gully thats where it gets really scary. The floodmark - for those of you who dont know, the highest line of dirt and bark and debri - comes up OVER our bottom lines, so our fence was underwater. Branches as thick as me are slammed haphazardly against the pickets. Breathing steadily to control my fear I wiggle the pickets and find them solid - impossible! Theyre in the lowest part of the gully therefore are in the slushiest, wettest part of the fenceline, and usually a little water will loosen a picket in that position. These stood up to a soaking at their base, rushing tides, plus being slammed by decent sized branches, and not only are they still standing, theyre SOLID! I could kiss them.
I finish the perimeter finding numerous bits of dangerous rubbish that have been uncovered, blown or washed onto our land. I walk the water course - now just singing meekly and by this time next week will be a dry gully again - but find no real dangerous things to pick up.
But deep down, Im not feeling well and my hands begin to shake. Too close to disaster - and its not over. The steep gully that makes up the property is littered with trees, and in storms they come down for one simple reason - the earth has eroded and washed out from the roots. When that happens a perfectly young healthy tree just uproots and rolls away....Usually with disastrous consequences.
And, the water is relentless. The rain does not halt for a second. It ranges from pattering to driving and the winds continue to whirl up and wind down, and Im watching the trees in the gully warily, right up to this moment. The constant rain is just making them heavier, eroding their bases still further, and its only a matter of time before one or more come down. I refused to let the horses into the side for grass as that area has more unstable trees than anywhere else, not to mention boggy holes that were once filled with garbage.
Im nervous, especially since Ive checked the satellite pics - the cyclone that caused this storm is resolving itself but we're in for more as I can see the clouds coming together, and the warnings are coming out already.
Like DANG! This storm has made me unbelievably nervous, I actually am afraid of the big bad storm and what it could do.....Im thankful for the day off, wringing hands greatful I decided not to go to work.....
I feel like a shell shocked refugee who's just been told theyre not actually through bombing. I dont know how Im going to tell Shakir....
I still love storms, but Im starting to develop a deep respect and fear.....I dont think a korean typhoon scared me quite so much!
Hang on to your hats....Kleos gonna start building an ark!
Im not at work today, and Im feeling quite a lot of residual guilt. Dont tell me not to be guilty, because I already know - I Hate my job, I feel no responsability, I dont have to feel guilty. But the great (?) thing about emotion is you cant control it. So, I feel guilt. The same way I did when I wrangled a day off school.
I have SUCH a very good reason for not going. But I worked the weekend - Mon and Tue were my weekend, then I worked wed and thurs....Now Im off again. Last week was peppered with sick days, and Im having another one on Mon for my return to the nuero. I just keep doing it! So theres the source of my guilt. But lets get to my reason -
The Storm.
Wed arvo, I got home late after completing the Chainsaw course at work - Yes, that means Kleonaptra is government certified for the use of a large chainsaw. (Are you scared?) I wanted to work the horses but since I was late and the sky was black and rumbling I threw the feed out, put Magnus' waterproof on and battened down the hatches. 3 times I tried to put Zayfir's raincoat on - in the sticky, pressure cooker humidity - and he protested, No Mum, its NOT going to rain!
The night drew on and the temperature rose and it did not rain. Zayf was right, Magnus was hot, and when I awoke at 4AM it was even HOTTER.
Ive always had a special sensitivity to the heat. When I was younger, waking up at 7 when the sun was barely in the sky, Id already feel like I was sizzling. Thurs morn, I was unable to believe so much heat was in the air when the sun was still hours away. Where was it coming from? Why did the breeze not dissipate it? How could it climb, by the second like that? Its demonic.
On getting off the train, I saw the red sky......Red Sky in Morning is the Warning.....Bad weathers on the way. There had been a red sky on Wed as well.
At work, I dug in. 5 seconds in the boxes and sweat was running down my face like I was in a shower. Im throwing dirty straw one way, clean straw the other, arms swinging the pitchfork furiously. The horses, merely standing and watching me, have sweat dripping from their bellies. In two hours Im still not done even though some of the others are - my jeans are wet, my top is soaking and my eyes are stinging and I taste salt. Its like standing in a salty rain. My underwear has become apart of me, and the build up of sweat under my breasts is itching furiously. Every motion causes runs of sweat down my sides.
The torture finally over we finish up and head to breakfast and after, as usual, we are all too drained from losing 5 times our weight in sweat to do much. We wander, mope, try to look busy by weeding the garden as the sun beats down and we consume megalitres of water. The days winding down to that point that SHOULD be exciting....Because its nearly over....Except we now have to finish the boxes.
I begin laying the straw beds and filling them. My skin feels like its on fire and again its like being under a salty rain cloud. I run out of straw. Instead of someone bringing the forklift to lay down some pieces for me, Im instructed to 'grab the loose stuff' which means I end up filling the trolley 4 times before my 6 stables are filled. Ive never had to refill more than once!
Im crawling along by this stage. Im chanting, tonight it must rain, tonight it must rain, thinking of yesterdays afternoon that looked so dark and promising yet only left us hotter. Im feeling the pressure, still steadily rising, and I know its got to crack.
Somehow we crawl to the station and I collapse onto my air conditioned train. As usual Im not ready for the heatwave when I get off over an hour later (How bad can it be?) and almost faint when it hits me. Since theres no rest for the wicked I zoom around town, post office, rent paying, supermarket. My bus is late.
All around, black clouds are rumbling. Not one storm but at least six separate entities. From all directions. They paint wicked shapes as the cumulo nimbus spiral up, towering into the sky, and rend each other back and forth as their magnetic pressure draws them together and forces them apart.
Im beginning to think its not going to rain, after all. Im prepared for the heat to continue even if I dont know how I'll deal with it. Friday at work is already looking like hell.
I get Zayf out and work him - he still doesnt understand 'back up!' and do the rounds, checking feet and injuries while they chew their dinner. All safe and sound, I come back up.
Im relaxing in front of the tv, and go to get another drink when the wind suddenly picks up and pelts the house with a chill. I race out down the hill and throw magnus' and Zayfir's rug on. Zayfir says, "Oh, thanks mum. Its about to get wicked out here!" and I return to the house......
Im watching tv when it hits. The thunder is shaking the house and sending massive vibrations through the ground in all directions. The lightening strikes are thick and bright and close. The wind is reaching unbelievable speeds. The power fails, returns, fails and returns again.
Im now striding quickly up and down the house - the horses are running like mad idiots - Zayfir is thoroughly enjoying himself and dangerously racing the wind and urging the others to follow him. I secure Najara - who's freaking, not a fan of loud noises unless she's making them - and head out to the back deck. I start calling, "Whooawalk. Whooawalk. Easy ponies" and strictly calling to Teshan to settle them - and quickly.
Why they didnt settle under their shelter, I'll never know. But it is under a tree - maybe horses are smarter than even I think they are.
Im chasing the ducks into the laundry when amoungst the relentless drumming on the iron roof I hear - CLANG!
Oh, shit.
Hail.
Since I moved to property Ive been terrified of hail. Here I dont even have stables, and Im watching the horses lined along the back fence. Teshans carefully calling to them - "Hold, hold! Dont run boys, dont run!" But Im watching Shakir.....He's brain damaged, he overloads so very quickly. Too much input, emotion, he just explodes. He hates thunderstorms - the lashing rain in his eyes, up his nose and in his ears, he cant hear, cant see, cant smell, cant feel anything.....Except more terror. The only things that penetrate the pounding, driving, torturous rain are the bright, blinding flashes of electric light and the booming vibrations of thunder. He was already beginning to appear anxious at the storms ferocity and duration - Now, his first hail.
My eyes are locked onto him. His eyes are squinted, his ears layed back into his skull - the signiture of a very angry horse. Every line of his body looks like an arrow in a taught bow. Every time a piece of hail hits him his head skews alarmingly to the side as he tries to avoid it.
He cant take it - he breaks. He turns and bolts into the trees and spirit plunges after him. Mags and Zayf are hot on their heels - Zayf still grinning, mind you, and yelling like a 12 year old boy, "Oh, aint this FUN!!" - and Teshan follows - not fast enough to rev them up, just quick enough to keep up. "Come on, come on," Im chanting....Spirit and Teshan have to capture Shakir. He's usually their boss, but in a storm they have to pin him or he'll kill himself going through fences and/or trees. Far off in the back corner, all five flow into a loose circle and I see the move completed - Spirit on one side, Teshan on the other and no forward or back route. Magnus and Zayfir set up nearby with butts to the wind.
Every time lightening flashes and thunder blares, Shakir jumps like he'll break free of their hold, and either his mother or his best friend will bite him firmly - "Dont go mad - you are here, safe, between us, dont listen to it....Listen to me...." And press their bodies firmly against him while he quakes in terror and confusion.
With his brain damage, he just reaches a 'make it stop' stage, and if it doesnt....Well. Im sure youve seen brain damaged children wig out. Its a bit like that. But with 600kgs of power.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Is still sounding from the tin roof. Im starting to imagine all kinds of horrific injuries as the hailstones begin to get bigger and more frequent. Its my worst nightmare - the thing that cannot be controlled, cannot be stopped, capable of wiping out everything I love and me powerless. Im gripping the back deck bannister fiercely, and my surface brain is thinking of the heat, the pressure, how immense its been, and that, of course, the light, the boom and the water and cold release will be extreme. But underneath....
Sweet mother....Rain us out, wash us away.....But please, melt the hail! Please...For Shakir, your sun child....Im at your mercy, please....
The hail does stop but the rain doesnt. Its coming in sideways on the force of the wind which is now blasting the house and shaking the walls. Booms of thunder are causing pictures to leap off the walls and the lightening seems far too close. I lock the ducks up but waters coming under the door. Out the back all I can see is white - no property, no horses, just white wash. I cuddle Binky for awhile, who seems mightily distressed.
The power goes out and doesnt return. Lucky we're hippies, the candles come out.
I dont know how long it went on for....But it felt like hours. At one point I remember how parents tell their children "Its nothing to be afraid of". Tell that to the people who have a tree through the roof.
* 21,000 homes were without power
* Lightening strikes caused airport and train delays and stoppages
* Power surges still evident today
* approx 1000 homes still without power
* Trains cancelled due to fallen trees and signal failure
* roads are closed, blocked, and those that arent are slippery and dangerous with debri
And it aint over.
But last night, as it eased, I raced out into the still pouring rain to catch the last of the light. I checked Mags and Zayf were still dry - I hadnt expected their rainsheets to hold up but they did - Got rugs on Shakir and Spirit. Teshan still refused. I put out ample piles of good hay and settled them under the shelter - hugging shakir and kissing his nose and making much of him. His eyes and nostrils were big, his skin tight, looking about him furtively, but food conquered the fear quickly.
The sky rumbled. It was coming back.
In the house now it was truly dark and the candles were throwing out a magical glow. Binky could not stay up - she was clinging to me, but trying to fly in the dark and getting very angry at the lack of light. Far too dangerous for her - she could fly into something, even a candle, or fall into a cats paws....I had to put her to bed. I think I was in there over half an hour trying to convince her. I left her sitting on the edge of her nest in pitch black darkness. All I could do was hope she tucked herself in, and didnt try to fly in the dark. She was most distressed at not having a radio. All night I worried that she'd be dead in the morning from a horrid accident.
I ate a couple of cheese sandwhiches and went to bed. The storm was still booming and flashing and raining. It was too hot and we had no fan.
I got up at 4am. I got dressed - I actually got in the car and got all the way to the station. The whole suburb was out of power and I was wondering if there would even be a train....
There was not. I got back in the car and thought a moment.
If I waited for the rail bus, Id definitely be late. The bus takes so much longer - particularly on roads that are wet and covered with fallen trees. If I was late to work, Id have to STAY late to make it up, then Id go through the same crap to get home again. Id be lucky to get home before 6pm!
I was thinking about the huge piece of sheet metal Id seen on the fence, and what else might be on it. No power, no electric fence, and even if the power came back on, the fence wont work if its crushed somewhere. Even if it wasnt, it wont work waterlogged as its the cheap electric tape, not wire. So my horses would be unattended all day in inadequete fencing. And worked up from the weather. Theres Binky to consider, the ducks, the Pidge. All are going to need reconstructed habitats. Im thinking about how my property is just a massive gully, and last night during the storm the stream that cut it in two was foaming with whitewash.
There might not even be a permiter fence anymore! I thought in alarm.
Thats it - Im going back home I told mum. Too much risk and she agreed. Ive gone through P files and I know for storm damage I should be eligable for family and carers leave.
But really....Who cares? Ive got to get my fucking priorities straight honestly. I should never have even considered going to work after such an onslaught.
I go back to bed for a few hours and flick the computer on while I jump start with a coffee. A standard coffee - Kmans drank all the cappucino mix - and check the news. Its devastation and its everywhere. Im guessing, no one at work would be able to argue with my reason for staying home. When Id called the horse attendant at about 530, she'd sounded incredibly sympathetic.
After the coffee I brace myself and head out. I arm myself with a pair of shears and sissors and clip the vegatation away from the electric tape as I go. Might as well kill 2 birds with one stone. I remove bark and branches and Im amazed at how well we've gotten through. No lines are broken!
When I get into the gully thats where it gets really scary. The floodmark - for those of you who dont know, the highest line of dirt and bark and debri - comes up OVER our bottom lines, so our fence was underwater. Branches as thick as me are slammed haphazardly against the pickets. Breathing steadily to control my fear I wiggle the pickets and find them solid - impossible! Theyre in the lowest part of the gully therefore are in the slushiest, wettest part of the fenceline, and usually a little water will loosen a picket in that position. These stood up to a soaking at their base, rushing tides, plus being slammed by decent sized branches, and not only are they still standing, theyre SOLID! I could kiss them.
I finish the perimeter finding numerous bits of dangerous rubbish that have been uncovered, blown or washed onto our land. I walk the water course - now just singing meekly and by this time next week will be a dry gully again - but find no real dangerous things to pick up.
But deep down, Im not feeling well and my hands begin to shake. Too close to disaster - and its not over. The steep gully that makes up the property is littered with trees, and in storms they come down for one simple reason - the earth has eroded and washed out from the roots. When that happens a perfectly young healthy tree just uproots and rolls away....Usually with disastrous consequences.
And, the water is relentless. The rain does not halt for a second. It ranges from pattering to driving and the winds continue to whirl up and wind down, and Im watching the trees in the gully warily, right up to this moment. The constant rain is just making them heavier, eroding their bases still further, and its only a matter of time before one or more come down. I refused to let the horses into the side for grass as that area has more unstable trees than anywhere else, not to mention boggy holes that were once filled with garbage.
Im nervous, especially since Ive checked the satellite pics - the cyclone that caused this storm is resolving itself but we're in for more as I can see the clouds coming together, and the warnings are coming out already.
Like DANG! This storm has made me unbelievably nervous, I actually am afraid of the big bad storm and what it could do.....Im thankful for the day off, wringing hands greatful I decided not to go to work.....
I feel like a shell shocked refugee who's just been told theyre not actually through bombing. I dont know how Im going to tell Shakir....
I still love storms, but Im starting to develop a deep respect and fear.....I dont think a korean typhoon scared me quite so much!
Hang on to your hats....Kleos gonna start building an ark!
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Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Hope all your babies weather the storms okay
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
My kids couldn't get enough of the hail. It's the closest thing they get to snow in Sydney.
Well I hope you get a reprieve from the storms.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Its hard, because Ive always loved them so much! Ever since I was a little kid Ive loved watching them. But since we've moved to property I tend to spend the whole time clutching my hands together! You think, 'horses have been living through storms for millenia' then a piece of sheet metal leaps off the shed and flies down the property like its out to decapitate someone! AARGH!
Mrs M,
I was the same at their age. Once so much hail was dumped on us we were able to build a snow man and that was really exciting!
The horses coped with hail so much better than I ever thought they would - I expected them all to go bananas and end up torn to shreds but that didnt happen. Just Shakir...My poor man! He just doesnt understand, and theres no way to explain it! It really is miraculous the way his mum and best mate take care of him.
A reprieve? Well, we need them really for the grass.....A secure property with a good stable would do me! Rubber walls for Shakir, and we're set! No more fear!