Archive for May, 2009Home Storm Chasers II (Video)We captured enough footage on one day last week to make a whole sequel to Home Storm Chasers. Here it is. Home Storm Chasers II: 96 Degree Day with Golf Ball Hail and Lightning Striking a Rainbow Also watch Lightning Storm Video. It shows more of the lightning in slow motion. Lightning Storm VideoHere’s the evening lightning storm footage I mentioned earlier. The second half is in slow motion. I’ll post another video tomorrow showing a rainbow, hail and part of the neighbor’s roof flying away. It was a day of sweet footage! Latest Thunderstorm ShotsHere are thunderstorm pictures from late May. The dark sky shots were from a storm that barely clipped us. Amazingly it hardly sprinkled. The later pictures are from the 96 degree day with golf ball size hail and lightning striking a rainbow that I wrote about here. I was so lucky to get that lightning shot. Thank you Sudi-Pie for finding the rainbow or I would have missed both. Later on in the evening we saw near-continuous horizontal lightning very far away. I took a gig of video. This weekend I’ll edit that to show the lightning branching out in slow motion. I think there will be 3 or 4 really cool sequences. Vegetable Garden UpdateHere are some pictures we took about a week ago. Just try to imagine everything a little bigger. The sunflowers are about half way up the fence as of now. A couple are starting to grow flowers (I think) and the biggest one will probably be near the top of the fence in a week or two. Our radishes are ready, we have about 30 tomatoes, the cucumbers are flowering and some of the peppers are starting to show up. The green onions don’t grow as fast as I thought they would but they are thickening up. Homegrown radishes are spicer than the store bought ones. The Day After YesterdayI surveyed the wind and hail damage from yesterday. We only lost two tomatoes out of about 30 and possibly one sunflower out of about 20, but I’m seeing if its half-severed trunk will fuse back together. The others had their leaves pierced and a few were ripped off, but I’m sure they’ll be standing straight and tall again after a week of sunshine like last time. A periodic hail storm might even be a good thing. It sort of showed me which leaves to thin out and also provided some good soft organic matter for our compost bin. I found our heavy-duty back doormat flipped over 10 feet away along with a sandwich bag and a tin foil dispenser. We didn’t lose any shingles and the pansies (they’re supposed to be dead by this time anyway) have again proven absolutely indestructible. Not too shabby! Golf Ball Hail and Lightning Piercing a RainbowToday was 96 degrees. We were driving home when we saw this very small storm on the horizon in the afternoon. We weren’t sure it would get to us but it sure did! It got very windy (we saw some shingles flying across the sky) then it started dropping hail. We had a few pieces of quarter sized hail then ONE golf ball sized piece of hail dropped all by itself. I ran out and grabbed it because it’s the biggest we’ve seen yet and who knows if we’ll see anything like that again. After the hail, Sudi saw a rainbow pop up, so I went out side to video it. I was lucky enough to also capture a cloud to ground lightning strike that crossed the rainbow! WOOHOO! What a day… I love weather, man.
We’re Home Storm ChasersPosted by Steven in Fun, Garden, Home, Outdoors, Photography, Video, Weather on May 16th, 2009 at 12:10pm
Spring is really exciting in North Texas. Wildflowers pop up, nights become warm enough to sleep with windows open, and cold dry air from the Rockies collide with warm humid air from the Gulf. That creates severe thunderstorms just about every week here in the southern tip of Tornado Alley. I’m talking loud thunder, big hail, wind that eats signs and, in isolated areas, more rain in one day than San Diego gets in one year! You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a dark green sky (that means get the horses inside now). Benbrook WildflowersWe have a variety of wildflowers at this time of year. Here are a few that I picked in a field at the end of our street for Sudi during a bike ride (well, technically not while I was riding). Pretty, huh? There’s a bluebonnet, two buttercups and I don’t know what the others are called. The background is our garage wall. We painted it a sort of cappuccino color. It makes a great patio with all of our folding lawn chairs from the 70’s.
Also check out my Pretty Flowers set on flickr. I put every flower picture I’ve ever taken into it. Sudi in Benbrook NewsI’ve always thought Benbrook News was a cool newspaper. Now I think it’s even cooler.
Graduation—Best Day of My LifePosted by Sudi in Church, Family, Food, Fun, Photography, Seminary, Video on May 9th, 2009 at 12:26pm
May 8th 2009 6:00am We got up bright ‘n early to give us enough time to get dolled up. 7:45am The door bell rang…I was hoping Steven would get it but the door bell kept ringing so I got it. 8:00am We had a mini photo-shoot before we headed out to Travis Avenue Baptist Church. 8:30am Steven dropped me off so I could meet the rest of the graduates in the basement where we were told to meet. 9:00am Steven and Lucy were allowed in the sanctuary and secured pretty good seats. In no time the house was full. Beautiful church architecture! 9:55am We lined up for the Processional to begin at 10 sharp. The ceremoy was beautiful. The message delivered by our president Dr. Patterson was Christ-centered and powerful. We also had a lovely time when spouses, parents, grandparents, etc were recognized. Steven and Lucy were honored and that made me happy. BRAVO!!!! Walking up to the front to recieve the Diploma was thrilling, having it in my hand felt so good! After the ceremony everyone, faculty, familiy members, friends and gradautes all mingled in the front lawn. Cameras everywhere, lots of fun, energy and hugs. Steven did a fabulous job at following me around as I chased all my favorite profs for pictures. It was a blast to talk to them and introduce them to Lucy. She really enjoyed finally meeting the great professors I told her so much about. At about 1pm we drove northeast to Plano. Steven took us to a La Jolla type place called Shops at Legacy. We ate Italian at Nicolas and had the most heavenly desserts at the Bakery Bistro across the street. The pastries were heavenly. We took tons of pictures, and walked around. We were very happy and quite silly. We drove home to open gifts that Steven and Lucy got me and beautiful cards as well. Professors that touched my life and appear in the pictures: Friends shown:Grant, Peace, Debbie and Grace Steven: Thank you for making all my dreams come true. Thursday May 7th- we had rehearsal, a fellowship at Price Hall and a grand reception at the President Mansion- The Pecan Manor. They really go all out. God is Good and the Giver of all Good Gifts. 
"I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."Genesis 12 Calendar
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