[CH] What the? HAIL!
Parkhurst, Scott Contractor (PARKHURS@LEAVENWORTH.ARMY.MIL)
Mon, 22 May 2000 15:05:30 -0000
Well, we had one heck of a hail storm yesterday. Marble
sized chunks rained down for 20 minutes. Poured down rain
for another 20, for a total precip of almost 2 inches. So much
hail that for a time the streets were white, lawns almost covered.
When it finally let up and I went out to survey the damage, I
just about cried. It really did a number on the gardens. Beat the
hell out of the chiles, many down to 2 leafs, some less, on 10 - 12"
plants. Even those semi-protected by trees suffered.
At one point during the storm I looked out to see hail stones
floating in the raised beds, both were mostly white. At the base of
one of my downspouts, there was a pile of hailstones 4 feet long,
2 feet wide and almost a foot deep. It had not yet melted away
when I left for work. It came down so hard that it overloaded that
gutter and sent water/hail crashing over the edge, down onto the
bed, washing out half the carrots, a couple heads of garlic and
50 pounds of topsoil. Luckily no chiles washed away.
As I walked around the yard shaking my head I did what some
tribes do when their enemy has fallen. I scooped up a cup full of
stones and consumed them, so as to gain their strength and
wisdom. Oh yeah... the bourbon and coke mixed in didn't hurt.
Mine was the only house on the block with a huge pile of hail
at a downspout. Kinda makes me think I had worked up some
bad karma that was due to be burned off. I dunno, maybe it was
the spam jerky...
Scott... oh, the humanity... KCK