Wasn't it wonderful? I'm still learning the new storm sounds in our new place.

Do you still live close by? I vaguely remember learning the sounds of a new place. After 16 years, I know the sounds around here pretty well.

The only thing that has changed is the whine of the dog. He's had some ear issues that have impaired his hearing so I can enjoy the storms guilt-free as they no longer send him into a panting panic. This one, he slept right through!

If I ever do move to the Pacific Northwest as I want to, I'm going to miss these frenetic storms. I understand that though they get rain, they rarely get thunderstorms.

Yeah, they don't seem to get the wild weather we get.

And yeah, we only moved a couple of miles. ;-)

Yay! Nicer digs, I hope. I'm glad I ended up keeping the house rather than moving. If I can't afford (secure) Montrose housing, this is the next best place to live. Especially since I got the dog, who loves his private yard.

Oddly enough, it's a touch smaller, but much more well designed.

Better yet, though, it's *cheaper*. :-) And we're closer to my kid's friends as well as to her bus stop.

Sounds like they're nicer to me! Less money, better layout, better location. Sounds like a win all around. Congrats!

Thanks!

I object! We don't get the same kind of wild weather.

What kind of wild weather *do* you get?

Squalls. And ... uhm ... yeah. Rain-induced mass flooding.

In the spring it is quite common to have rain, sun, sleet, hail, sun, rain, sun, sleet, rain and sun all on the same day, not necessarily in that order but definitely in that frequency. ;)

Sleet is a rarity for us. But rain to the point of flooding is a fact of life around here.

You'd think some people who'd lived here for any length of time would know to pull into an elevated parking lot and wait out the flooding. Not fun at all but better than a flooded car.

Really.

With you on the flooding. The designed this city for the streets to flood as a way of protecting the houses and businesses. Yet we have so many new residents and plain old unobservant old ones that when it's raining hard, lots of motorists fail to pull into an elevated parking lot to wait it out, with the inevitable footage of flooded cars.

It's sort of a rite of passage to send the newest/youngest/most gullible tv reporter out into the flood to remind people not to get out in flood waters because not only does it drive out the snakes (we have water moccasins, a particularly venomous and aggressive species) but the fire ants ball up as a floating raft and will swarm anything solid they hit.

Happily, we rarely have sleet.

i like rain, but not thunderstorms

A lot of people don't. My love of them probably comes from growing up with them. Around here, the heat builds up during the spring and summer and gets stifling. One really good thunderstorm can clear out a lot of that excess energy and cool the place off a few degrees. But it has to be a good, drawn out storm. If it's just a half hour or so, it's still hot but with added humidity of nearly 100%. Then it's like living in a steamer basket.

I associate good, long thunderstorms with improved weather. Which is one of the more counter-intuitive associations one could make.

"I love thunderstorms"

Normally, I do too... although, this afternoon I had to be out picking up the kids from school in the middle of lightning, thunder and hail. I looked like a drown Rat by the time I got home.*L* Course now I'm home, warm and dry, so the storm can rage all it wants :)

The power of the storms out here still amazes me... didn't get many thunderstorms like these back Oregon.

Ah -- thunderstorms outdoors are not nearly as much fun as thunderstorms when you're indoors.

Although, I used to live in a tent for 3 months at a time as a field archaeologist in Wyoming and several times a year I'd get up and find everyone else grousing about how the storm kept them up. I'd be all, "Oh, did it rain?" I actually sleep better when it's storming. I've been around them my whole life (we moved north when we traded Florida for Houston) so they're no big deal to me.

Now hail is a WHOLE different story. It's hardly ever conducive to hail down here -- and I'm happy for that. Laramie got hail and that was No Fun.

Edited 2010-05-15 03:08 am (UTC)

What part of Texas are you in? I wouldn't want to experience too many storms in the Panhandle, for instance, given the danger of tornadoes. Nearly all of our tornadoes are hurricane-related so normally one has been able to prepare. As well as one can for tornadoes.

we are just below the panhandle (in Lubbock) so ya, on a bad day there are plenty of tornado warnings around us. One of the many things I'll never get used to here. Funny enough growing up in the Oregon weather was never much of an issues... mostly the news consisted of telling us, either it was raining or it wasn't (usually was ;) Here, everyday seems be something completely different.

Yikes. That's a scary part of the world for violent storms. Mind you, hurricanes are no cakewalk but I like that it's possible to prepare for them. Sort of. And I hope I never see another one.

The High Plains are home to some wild weather. I used to pitch my tent near Pine Bluffs, WY on the Western edge of those plains. It was far more changeable than I what we get around here.

OTOH, you're near Lubbock Lake, where the oldest human remains in Texas were found! I'm probably the only person who thinks that makes up for a lot of negatives but I've always wanted to visit but never had enough time when I was in the area to make the side trip.

"you're near Lubbock Lake, where the oldest human remains in Texas were found!"

It's about 15 minutes from here :) Ironically, that is where my daughter had her school field trip today.

They offer classes out there for the kids during the summer, thought I'd sign up the older girls... I think they would really enjoy it :)

*iz not jealous* *iz not jealous* Oh, who am I kidding? I'm jealous! My school trips were the Imperial Pure Cane Sugar Refinery and, okay, the Hogg Plantation was interesting in a "look at this hybrid Southern/Victorian room you can't enter and this furniture you can't touch" kind of un-air conditioned way. I have got to plan a trip to Lubbock Lake at some point.

What kind of classes do they teach out there? Sounds fascinating!

as a kid we had some good school trips, the beach, mountains, wildlife parks.. that sort of thing. Don't remember them being terribly educational, but fun ;) My kids trips have been more museums and such... there are several good ones run by texas tech (including Lubbock Lake) so at least they don't have to travel very far.

The summer classes are a different subject weekly... things like ecology, map making, learning about & making primitive tools, learning about the first pioneers as well as native americans and learning about indigenous instruments & creating their own. I know they do some digs with the kids as well, but I'm not sure what ages those are for.

Man, we had lousy field trips compared to yours. We went to San Jacinto (near here) and stood in the weeds to see where Texas won its independence. We went to Washington-on-the-Brazos and stood in the weeds and bugs to see where Texas had its first capitol. We went to the sugar plant, where I got sick because the smell of the sugar was too sweet (I have weird, non-standard responses to many smells other people like). We went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch once but I couldn't eat because I'm deathly allergic to seafood. We went to the art museum ONCE and I loved that! We went to the un-air-conditioned Hogg plantation. And I think that's about it. Not particularly great memories except for the art museum.

Oh! In 5th grade, we went to the school district's indoor pool facilities where we all learned took swimming lessons. I enjoyed that except for the whole "changing clothes in front of your peers for the first time" part. :|

I love a good thunderstorm. After eight years way from the middle of the country, I still miss them. We'll get thunder and lightning here, but it is not the same. This is actually good, as a stiff breeze tends to knock out power.

Don't imagine that our utility grid is particularly robust. Considering the amount of rain we get, you'd think it would take more than a few drops to knock out the cable. Back when I had a landline, any rain at all typically knocked out phone service for several days. Much of our power grid is above ground so when Ike came through, I think 90% of the city was powerless. I was without power for more than 2 weeks. Not my idea of ideal.

I love thunderstorms when I'm safe inside - or especially if I can be out on a porch with a cup of coffee. Must be all the electricity in the air - makes it exciting!

Absolutely. *nods* As long as I'm not out in it, it's a grand thing to watch. I wish I had better porches for just such viewing.