Stormy weather

(watch out, little cow. i think i hear a siren.)

One of my favorite blogs is The Retirement Chronicles, a witty blog with absolutely beautiful photographs of northern Michigan. The pictures of spring flowers and birds are just amazing.

Not to be outdone, I have been taking pictures this week here in Dallas.

Before I share my pictures, I need to explain that we don't really have spring here. We go right from "It's-Kind-Of Chilly" to "Oh-My-God-It's-Hot." And forget the gentle spring showers. It's either bone-dry or knee-deep-in-water. Nothing in between.

Hey, this is Texas. We don't mess around.

Here is what the sky usually looks like:



But the other day, it started to look like this:


And then it got these dark, swirly clouds that looked like this:



I noticed that the swirls were moving counter-clockwise. That was right about the time that the sirens started going off. There are no basements to hide in, and I didn't really want to sit in my closet and miss all the excitement, so I took some pictures of the hail stirring up the water in our swimming pool:

(see the little plops? that is hail. at the time, it was quite dramatic.
i really think i need a better camera.)

Texas may not be the most scenic state. But we have Weather with a capital "W."
In just a matter of minutes, we can go from this:

(before)

To this:

(after)

Sorry, little cows. Next time, find a closet to hide in.

~~~