RAIN, Tornados--the works

TGIF, as they say. This week is one that is better left behind. From the beginning until tomorrow...how varied can one week be?

The ultimate Experience (note the capital E) came yesterday with myriad warnings from all the TV stations: severe thunderstorms, tornado watches, warnings, and then the local sirens and the town's Emergency Warning announcements on TV... whoa, Enough already.

They counted three tornados touching down in various parts of the county and the adjoining town of Olive Branch. The dire warnings were right on target, with frog-strangling downpours of rain, with water collecting on low-lying streets and yards, bridges and creeks. OUR gauge in the back yard measured almost FIVE inches of rain in about 2 1/2 hours of the Storms. No wind to speak of, thank goodness, in our neighborhood, and the electric power managed to stay on in spite of one hiccup (which was reflected in our having to reset all the electronic gadgets). Cable was out for a couple of hours, but the computers finally came back on, much to our relief.

Pictures in the newspapers and on TV today showed so many houses ripped apart, businesses that lost roofs and facades, cars and 18-wheelers turned over or smashed into each other, trees downed, roads flooded....it was a Mighty Storm that went through the area.

The occasional clouds this morning soon gave way to brilliant sunshine, which was a more than welcome sight. The temperatures this morning were nice and cool while the humidity is amazingly low, considering all the moisture still lingering in puddles and ditches.

Our Maryland family arrives tomorrow midnight, by plane this time, and thus will begin a week of festivities connected to The Wedding - one week from tomorrow! We'll start with celebrating all our family's August birthdays: Charlotte, Michael, Susan, Scott, John, and Emily (tho hers is really in early September) - which added together total about 236 years... obviously we will not attempt to put that many candles on the cake! And we'll wish Paul and Pam a happy 27th wedding anniversary while we're singing!

Thursday's Book Store volunteer time was busy and productive, and fun - as alwsys. We were able to make our weekly forage to the Farmers Market, too, before they had to close down due to the storm. The frig is full of good things like corn on the cob, peaches, tomatoes, and new potatoes - which will be enjoyed by all! I forgot a couple of items on Wednesday, when I did my long list at the grocery store, so a quick trip in today will solve that problem, I hope !