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Photograph courtesy of Brandon Wells, Albuquerque!
Two nights ago Greg and I, along with many other cars, stopped on a major street simply to watch this storm take place on the mountains. It was beautiful. It was a little freaky… and it captivated us all. Lightning this intense lasted for more than an hour.
I’m from a place where when it rains, it pours. Typically, this downpour will last five minutes. Once in a blue moon (seriously, not even once a year) that rain will last for more than an hour and reach hurricane-ish levels. It can be scary.
That was last night. (News on the South Valley flooding… watch the 3rd or 4th video… yikes)
And scared was how I felt when I stood in the bathroom shower (to get a good view of the backyard through the window) and watched as chairs blew across the backyard, a pool cover from two houses down whipped across the sky and landed on our minivan, all the while our lights were flickering on and off, and the band Wildewood was waiting to load their equipment into a truck. (They had a show!) Because, you see, we usually take the minivan. But this was what our driveway leading back to the (pool cover ravished) minivan looked like:
This photo was taken hours after it actually fell. When we had to load the truck out front for their show, it was still pouring buckets and wind was still whipping cows across the sky. At least our chicken coop was heavy enough to stay grounded.
At one point, Greg and I volunteered to get something from my sister’s car, which was out back with the minivan. I thought, “Hey, I’ve got this short hair. I can change my wet clothes… I might as well take one for the team!”
WELP, Greg and I got through the back yard, opened the gate to the (further back) backyard, and I told Greg, “OMG, I think I’m going to cry. I need to go back inside.”
This might sound a little exaggerated, but it was what I actually said. I got very overwhelmed, being out there. It made me realize that not only are we completely desensitized to the news and clips on TV of hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis, but we are also unaware of what people have had to deal with. I have watched a flooded street on the news and hardly thought anything of it. Sure, I’ll say, “Wow, how sad.” But seeing my own backyard get ripped apart… sunflowers ruined… my body bombarded with rain and wind… well, it scared me. And I am aware that what happened last night was NOTHING compared to what millions of people have experienced all around the world. We had a hiccup of a storm compared to some places, yet I found myself overwhelmed enough to run back inside the shelter of my home.
Talk about learning a lesson. Talk about feeling blessed beyond belief that we live in a place that hasn’t had many natural disasters.
That being said, I’ll now tell you how last night went after the storm. Wildewood still had a show at the bar Low Spirits, after all. They were troopers. Greg and Alex of Wildewood did most of the loading up, and in two different cars we made our way to the bar, in the dark, and across streets where power was out and rivers were forming. I held Greg’s hand (squeezed, actually) the entire time and then finally took a deep breath once we were there.
And then, at Low Spirits, something so cool happened. I felt like I was in a movie. The first two bands scheduled to play already had their gear inside. The power was out, a generator was provided some light, and these musicians began to play acoustic music, not even on the stage, but simply at the bar, and all those who had braved the weather to see them play still had a chance to hear them play. It was quite a sight.
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Pawn Drive and Baba, playing in the dark.
Eventually the bar closed and the four of us headed over to a different bar to eat tons of food and drink some drinks. The roads were semi-safe by then, but rivers were still forming all over the place. It was the calm after the storm, though.
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Greg (hubby), Alex, and Meredith (twin!) of Wildewood. Enjoying a drink after a storm.
And eventually… Greg and I completely pooped out and had to call it a night. Uffda.
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The Lous Sleeping
And good news, we can get to our backyard now. (Thanks to our awesome neighbor, landlord, and Greg who cleared away the tree.)
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All’s good in the South Valley
All in all, I learned that it’s hilarious to watch people run through the rain with rain gear on (as long as it’s not me), people will make it to the show if it means enough to them (way to go, all musicians who showed up!), and fun can be had… especially after the storm is over.
I hope we keep getting rain, but I also hope that no more trees are knocked over and that everyone is safe!
Love, Lou
Filed under: south valley, storm, Uncategorized, weather Tagged: downpour, south valley, storm, weather Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
