Mother Nature Owes Me Thirty-Five Bucks

We have had some heavy weather here in Nebraska the past couple of weeks. We have had serious rain, some places have had hail, many have been visited by twisters, all have experienced strong (60-75 mph) winds. We've lost many trees right here in the Monkey Hood, and some local shopping centers have had to put on new roofs.

Last night, however, was a pretty impressive display in these parts. We had a tornado warning for the first time since Monkey and I have been here. At least, it was the first time I have heard the sirens. The sky was darker than I have ever seen, and the clouds had a sort of green hue to them. Nothing touched down, and I was safely ensconsed in the basement gym of Basketball Church, so, no real worries, there.

However, when I got home, Monkey showed me a recent email from our CSA farm, where we have paid for a share of the fresh-picked crop this summer. They had been bombarded by heavy rains and large (baseballs, I heard) hail, maybe even a tornado. There buildings were not very damaged, but the crops were apparently wasted. No harvest this week--no veggies for you! So, unless we get an extra week at the end of the year, that's one less crop we get for our "investment." So, the way I figure it, we're out thirty-five bucks (at least--who knows what other long range effects the stom will have on the fields of the local producers).

It's been a rough spring for the ag business. It has been cold and wet. Nothing can be planted on time because it's so muddy, and nothnig is coming in on time because it has been so cold. This latest waether was just some poo icing on a crap cake. The farming life is tough.



Before Monkey showed me the email, I watched the sky the whole way home from basketball. It had been about two hours since the tornado warning, and a tornado watch had just expired. Above, while little or no rain was falling, the sky was an electric light show. I took a two minute video of some of the sublunary action. I hope it posts (Thanks, comoprozac.). It was like Nature was listening to Dark Side of the Moon and throwing lasers in the clouds. It went on for hours, until, at about 11:30, the skies opened up and dumped on us until 3:30 this morning. With acompanying scary winds.

Lucky for us, this morning, while windy, is clear (for now), and I see no damage on the grounds of Monkey House Nebraska.