Very strange day...mid-morning the fire alarm went off in the building where we're currently living. It ultimately turned out to be a false alarm. However, it was just a bit too close to the reality we faced last February and its many memories. Then this afternoon, I made my way back to the former location of the house and the garden to check out the garden and harvest as needed. As I approached the last mile or so, the sky VERY quickly darkened. As I pulled onto our street, a bolt of lightning struck with an immediate report of thunder...it was very, very close by. Heavy rain immediately began pouring onto the car I was driving (actually, all around me but, since I was in the car, that's where I was focused), along with an array of branches from the trees above. Sensing danger and that much larger limbs were likely to fall, I immediately departed to get away from the trees that soared above me. At that time an emergency announcement came across the radio naming Alexandria as the site of a tornado giving orders for people to seek and take cover...IMMEDIATELY. A not dissimilar message came through my phone at the same time, which I simply ignored at the time since I already knew what its message would be. As I made my way back along the half block to the adjoining road, I saw several tree limbs fall and my tomato cages, each containing a thriving 5-6 foot tall tomato plant, entirely toppled. As much as I wanted to protect them, I opted instead to make my way to the Alexandria police department to dig in as the storm passed by. Being located in the essentially basement portion of the city building, the police department was the first and likely safest destination that came to mind as I fled our street. Within two or three minutes I pulled into the police station parking lot and made my way inside. It took another five or so minutes before an announcement that the most dangerous portion of the storm had passed by. I waited perhaps another quarter hour making phone calls before heading back to see what had happened to the streets along the way as well as damage done to assorted properties. As I approached our street, I saw that the main connecting street was closed with fire vehicles and LOTS of firemen attempting to deal with the many fallen trees and limbs in order to be able to open up that street which carries quite a lot of traffic. Other fire fighters were heading back up our street after having cleared away quite a number of limbs and fallen trees. Having seen my tomatoes and their cages blow over as I made a quick exit earlier, I expected to encounter the worst as I approached the garden. To my amazement, most of the fallen tomato plants were again upright in their cages. The cages definitely weren't in the same positions as before and there were other signs indicating that they'd definitely been reconfigured. Not that I saw the fire fighters retrieve and replace the fallen cages, I feel certain one or more of the firemen will have attempted to remedy the situation. In any case, many thanks to the Alexandria fire department for their assistance. The garden definitely took a serious hit from the wind and assortment of weather-related elements. Most of the pepper plants were nearly flat on the ground and the assorted squash plants appear pretty messed up. The eggplant seem as intact as any of the plants...largely unaffected by the storm. I'm including a few pictures I shot in the aftermath of the storm. I suppose I'd concede it's been an overly exciting type of day...just not the type of excitement I'm up for. It all seems just too close to the edge of what we've been living lately. Also, despite the chaotic weather, I did harvest two eggplant that were definitely ready, more squash which I left with neighbors as well as a few ripe tomatoes. Assuming the tomato plants didn't take too hard a hit, I expect serious ripening will be taking place during this next week.
