Night-time Hail Storm

Elkmont, Alabama

Weather: low 40 degrees, high 49 degrees, cloudy, early showers

The crazy weather continued last night, as a hail storm arrived with no warning about 0030 hours this morning. It was relatively quiet outside as I was drifting off to sleep when suddenly I heard first one, then another, heavy thump hit the roof. All at once, something began hitting the roof that sounded like an army was up there hammering away for all they were worth. That's when I realized it was a hail storm, which often precedes a tornado. In this case, the hail continued to fall heavily for another 15 minutes or so, and then stopped as quickly as it had started. I looked outside about 0200 hours, and saw that the hail was piled below the gutters where apparently it had fallen over, plus the drains had hail piled up below them. Quiet a sound event, and we never had a tornado siren go off. As far as I could tell today, we didn't have any damage. It would have been a shame if the roof had been damaged, since it is only about six months old.

We didn't have any doctors' appointments today, so there was no rush to get out. The weather remains cold and wet, so the house was the place to be. This morning, we had a few housekeeping items to take care of, which didn't take long. The rest of the morning was spent by me reading and napping, while Carolyn continued working on her genealogy research.

At lunchtime, we went in to town to eat at a restaurant that has a senior special all day on Wednesdays. I had tilapia, while Carolyn had fried shrimp. My side dishes were not good to me at all, even though the same dishes tasted fine last week. It's strange how my taste buds are okay on something one day, then I can't stand the same dish the next day.

After lunch, we had to stop at the WalMart Mall to pick up a few groceries. Why is it that they seem to be moving everything in the store? We start remembering where things are located, and then they move them so we have to search to find what we want.

When we got home, we resumed doing what we had been doing earlier in the day, with a little television thrown in for good measure. About 1530 hours, I fell asleep watching television and slept for about a half hour. Now, if I could stretch that out a little......

My little brother Keith (just kidding) called today and said he and two of his sons will be coming here on Saturday from their home in southern Arkansas. he said he feels a need to see family, and I know exactly what he means. Our extended family has always been close, even though we may live a thousand miles apart. I have felt this need recently, but who knows how long it will be before we can take a long trip to visit family.

Tomorrow, I will have the abdominal fat biopsy performed as the doctors seek further information on what is wrong with me. I'm not expecting much in the way of pain, other than maybe a little soreness for a couple of days. At least we're continuing to move forward in trying to find the problem.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Holland, Texas: Home Of The Holland Corn Festival

Not all who wander are lost.