A Weird Day - Roxie

It was a weird day yesterday ... very weird!

Around 11:00 a.m. a northwest wind started blowing - it was the first "cold front" of the season. I'm not just talking about a little wind - it was blowing so hard it scared me. I estimate between 50-60 mph winds. The back of our house faces due north and you could see it coming across the bay straight for us. It looked menacing and was.

As the first of the wind arrived it began clanging the wind chimes so loudly you couldn't hear yourself think. The spa cover flew open exposing the hot tub and filling it with debris - leaves, dirt and who knows what else - there could be a small child in there for all I know. The outdoor furniture started moving and it's heavy teak. Cushions were flying. The cushion from the upstairs deck lounger blew up and over the house and was pinned against the fence in the front yard, unable to move due to the force of the wind. A small decorative ceramic accent table fell over, breaking off the top portion. It was a house-warming gift from Sarah and I was sad to see it go. Randy gathered the broken pieces that didn't immediately blow away thinking he was going to glue it back together. A pipe dream at best. I'm certain it's impossible.

All the palm tree fronds were pointed to the southeast. I noticed how stalwart the trunks were and what a perfect tree they were for this part of the world. Otherwise we'd be just another desert with no foliage. They can withstand a heck of a lot of wind and water without budging even an inch. Impressive! But not all of our landscaping is palm trees. The other, less hardy plants were being buffeted beyond reason. I'm amazed they are still standing.

The pool water was white caped, I'm not kidding. The waves produced by the wind were crashing over our pier. I've never seen that happen in the four years we've lived in this house - never. We have a rock breakwater for which I am truly grateful after seeing the waves hit the neighbor’s bulkhead and crash up to their roof! I'm sure they will have some repairs to do when they return.

I don't know what the cold front did to the barometric pressure but Abe's behavior was beyond crazy. He has a basket full of chew toys and antlers and he proceeded at one point during the chaos to empty his basket of toys and pick each one up individually and then drop it on the tile floor making an enormous racket inside. As if the outside noise wasn't enough to rattle me already. He spread them everywhere. Then he picked up one of them and started running helter skelter through the house as if his very life depended on it. He hunched over, toy in his mouth, and ran so fast there was no way he could stop on these tile floors - so he would slide until something got in his way. He slid so far it was like a pro baseball player's last ditch effort. I couldn't calm him down. I finally had to get the squirt bottle out for him to settle. I made him sit and stay and he finally did. I didn't let him out for quite some time. He never does any of those things. Usually he's a pretty calm dog. Not yesterday, he exhibited very strange and erratic behavior. I can only attribute it to the change in the weather.

The power of the wind had me in awe. There is nothing quite like Mother Nature to get your attention. We mere mortals can't compete with such true majestic supremacy. I am still in fear and wonder of it's strength, intensity, and sheer audacity of being. I now have a whole new respect for wind.