Hail Wreaks Havoc

It had been quite a while since we'd had hail here at out house, but hail season is upon us, and it came in with a fury last night.  We had a pretty intense lightning show that my daughter and I watched from the back porch.  There was just a steady sprinkle of rain, but the flash lightning was everywhere.  We came inside around 11:00,  and shortly after we had a burst of pea-sized hail.  I rushed outside to shelter the flower pots I had placed out in the rain, and the hail stopped almost as fast as it started.   It seemed like the storm was calming down, and we went to bed.

Around 1:00 I woke up to the unmistakable sound of hail.  Lots of hail.  It was so bad, I got out of bed to check it out.  The ground was already covered in white, and I knew that wasn't a good thing.  There was nothing I could do but watch the hail destroy the leaves on all all my flowers, trees and everything in my garden.  And it didn't stop for a long time.  I regretted taking the cover off of the herbs I have growing in an old Weber grill on my patio.

The first thing I do every morning is take a walk around our yard and check out my vegetable and flower gardens and plants.  Things always look so fresh.  I water what needs to be watered, pull a few weeds that have sprung up, and enjoy the beginning of a new day.

But today was different.  It wasn't so enjoyable.

All four of the geraniums on my patio looked like this.

I should've left the cover on my herbs!

A little less shade for my sitting garden.

Shredded sunflower leaves, anyone?

Apple tree.

Bruised apple.

My poor tomatoes.  :(

Good thing you don't use rhubarb leaves.

It's unbelievable how much damage a little ice will do.  Most of my plants (if not all of them) will recover, but it was so hard to see them shredded after having nursed them along for several weeks.  I hurt for them.    I realize my pain pales in comparison to all the farmers who depend on their crops for their livelihood.  I hurt even more for them.

While I was taking pictures of the damage and destruction, my daughter yelled at me to "come over here quick!  You have to take a picture of this!"  I rushed over wondering what in the world she could be looking at in the middle of the mulch.

And there was beauty amid the chaos.

What precautions do you take when you know hail is headed your way?

K