Okay, the truck is all fixed and ready to roll again. And I got my exercise walking from the coffee shoppe to the welders at the east edge of town.

Again, the welder thought doing such a deed was simply unnatural, especially as he offered to have his assistant give me a ride.

While in the middle of a phone call with the warden this afternoon, she remarked that it was hailing in town. Suddenly.

And lo and behold, 10 minutes later a major thunderstorm hit us, also with hail.

Actually, it was kinda minor as thunderstorms go, but certainly the most exciting we've had for quite some time. Thunder was coming in at 1-2 counts after the flash, except for one that hit just a block away or so.

The masked heeler and I were out eating lunch on the porch, watching the storm, and that one put her under my chair.

Literally.

Later, while in the kitchen, the maskless heeler tried to crawl in the refrigerator to get away from the "boomb-a-looms."

The two sisters were never really afraid of loud bangs until I had to put down a doe deer one winter, while they watched. Now they know what the fire stick does, and want nothing to do with it.

And they are totally unreassured when I tell them they don't have to worry about thunder. I can tell by their faces that they just think I'm an idiot, and it is now every pack member for herself.

It's been raining off and on all evening now. The question is, will it be too muddy to work tomorrow?