What the Hail?

To say that I'm behind on my blogging would be the understatement of the century, and, considering we are only 12 years into this century, that is a pretty bold statement.

There are pictures, words, ideas, and thoughts all swirling around in my head but I honestly haven't had the time to put them down into anything coherent.

But, you have to start somewhere, right? I figured I would start with the most recent of events since it is still fresh in my mind.

The Dallas Tornadoes

It was a morning much like any other morning in Dallas. On this particular day it was overcast and humid. But Grace and I got out for a walk, one with a brief stop at the park.

I had to drop something off at a friends house. I also had to go to the bathroom like you wouldn't believe. Not badly enough, however, to prevent me from snapping this picture. The Geico gecko on a serious "basking in the warmth" break.

Grace and I stayed for lunch and an impromptu playdate, and then headed home. As I got in my car Aaron texted me. "There are tornado warnings for the Dallas area. Stay inside, and stay safe." I quickly drove home and as I got out of my car I noticed the eerie way that things definitely seemed off. The sky was now thick with dark grey clouds and the wind blew aimlessly with no direction. In fact, despite brief gusts from random places the air was dead calm. I ushered Grace up the stairs quickly. I got a call from my sister "Are you alright?" Me: "Yeah, why wouldn't I be." Sister: "I heard there were crazy tornadoes touching down in Dallas." Me: "We're safe, everything is fine, I don't think they are near our area." I got Grace in her jammies for nap-time and laid in the other bed in her room. I was tired and definitely wanting a nap. My eyelids felt heavy and I started drifting when suddenly the tornado sirens started going off. The sound doesn't come and go like the siren on an ambulance, the noise just comes on and stays on. It was at this point that I started to get a little worried. I raced through my dusty knowledge of what you do when there is a tornado. Bathrooms, right? And anxiously texted Aaron, "Why do these things always happen when you're are work?!" I wanted my man home, taking charge and protecting us from any tornadoes that dared to cross his path.

Although Aaron only works about 20 minutes away, his area wasn't having any rain, nor were their sirens going off. I braved our balcony to get a picture of the pouring rain that seemed to only be hanging around us. As I snapped a couple pictures I saw something fall from the sky. One hit a puddle and made a huge splash. I knew it was hail, and by golly, it was ginormous, like snowballs falling from the sky.

The sound was so loud as the hail pounded our roof. I knew that there was no way my car could make it through unscathed. Between the blows of hail the sirens were still going off. I took it as my cue to grab Grace out of her crib and head to the innermost part of our apartment furthest from the windows: our bathroom.

Grace was having a fabulous time, completely unaware that there was anything out of the ordinary happening. She loved being in the bathtub with books, toys, and Mom. Although, she did ask me many times, "What is that noise?"Since the hail sounded like thousands of baseball bats whacking our ceiling.

After awhile the noise started to taper off and then it stopped. The rain poured for awhile and eased up just enough for me to run downstairs and snap a few pictures.

The next day I went down and assessed the damage on my car. I couldn't get a good picture but these little "dimples" were everywhere.

It wasn't until I took a second look at my car that I noticed the two circular cracks in my front windshield.

I thought my car had it bad until I heard about what happened to friends cars just a mile down the road. As I drove around today I saw the serious damage that other people were having to deal with, making my two circular cracks seem like nothing.

 Lots of cars were covered in tarps or garbage bags because their windows were completely blown out.

The window repair people have probably never had so much business.

As far as storms that I have been a part of, I think this was one of the first where I was legitimately scared. The hail was so intense and the tornadoes were so close that I honestly wasn't sure what was going to happen. Thankfully we made it through unscathed, and our friends and neighbors remained safe (not much can be said for their cars though). I have had a crash course in tornado safety and vow to respect the power of Mother Nature from here on out.