Day 12 - Oops!

Thoroughly expecting and uneventful December 21, 2012, I had to laugh at the irony when I woke to tornado warnings this morning.  Flipped on the TV weather to find them covering blizzards hitting the northern mid-west.  Checked our local weather on the computer and, sure enough, there was the red warning box headed our way.  Hummmm?!  Went to Facebook; good ol' Facebook.  The very first post on my news feed read, "Relax.  It's already December 22nd in Australia."   How much fun this technological age is!

Noticing the morning turning from early light to ominous dark and suddenly aware of wind whistling through my slightly open windows, I grabbed my camera an hurried to the deck to capture the approaching storm.

If you've ever rushed a fevered child to the doctor only to have the temperature return to normal moments before the exam, you will appreciate my frustration.  With camera in hand and trees bending as I stepped onto the deck, I chose my shot and prepared to snap the shutter just as the wind laid down.  I waited...readjusted, and waited some more.  Nothing.  Finally, a soft breeze.  Then my over-sized wind chime began to sound it's slow, "Bong.  Bong.  Bong."  So I readjusted again, but it's so heavy that even in a hurricane, the visual image is unimpressive.

 So, there was nothing but Christmas ornaments gently swaying in the breeze and a darkening sky.  

Now, the weather service is breaking in on the radio with 'severe thunderstorm' warnings for a small area that includes my house.  All that means is that I need to shut down the computer before a power failure does it for me.  I will likely have a better chance to capture photos shortly but need to go for now.  Just heard a report that 18,000 people, nearby, are already without power.  See you later.