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We'd been about a week without rain, and the grass was starting to show it.
Sometimes our weather pattern is "a thunderstorm a day keeps the drought at bay," and other times it is dry, dry. dry. dry, monsoon rain, and this day was like that.
The day started with that hot, muggy feeling that only gets hotter and muggier as the clouds build up, until you can see nothing but black skies and feel the crackle of the approaching lightening.
Then comes the wind, pushed ahead of the falling rain, which comes down in buckets and sheets, while the lightening strikes all around and the "thunder bumpers" shake the whole house, trees whipping around like mad and branches and leaves flying off in every direction.
After a while it moderates to just rain, interspersed with the occasional cell of more violent weather, and when it finally tapers off, you step outside to a different world from the one before the storm as the 3-5 inches of rain from the last two hours tries to drain off.
You smell the petrichor, and start to hear the birds chirping again in their gladness it's over, and you put on your grubby clothes and go out to begin the chore of cleaning the debris left behind.
Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Petrichor.
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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!
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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day! This week's image and my poem:
I'm not really that lazy,
I just need my rest, you see.
I spend my time defending
my big territory.
My wives spend their time hunting,
I chase invaders away,
it just makes a bloke tired,
is all I have to say!
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Brian of Brian's Home hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop. It's time to share something for which i am thankful.
Today i am thankful The Big Boss and Sweetie went back to the farm this week and found Sweetie's phone!
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Today is:
A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed Day -- simply a good day to remember this, and thank a friend
Career Nursing Assistants' Day -- and the start of CNA Week
Dia del Arbol -- Costa Rica (Tree Day/Arbor Day)
Fly A Kite Day (on the anniversary of Ben Franklin's kite experiment)
Global Wind Day -- to celebrate wind energy
Magna Carta Day -- UK (King John set his seal on the document this day in 1215)
Mangaia Gospel Day -- Mangaia, Cook Islands
Native American Citizenship Day -- US (passage, in 1924, of the legislation recognizing citizenship of Native Americans in the US)
National Dump the Pump Day -- The American Public Transportation Association used to sponsor this day to encourage you to consider public transportation as a way to cut down on high gasoline prices
National Lobster Day
Nature Photography Day -- sponsored by the North American Nature Photography Association
Recess at Work Day -- engage in productive play!
Salvation Day/National Day of Salvation -- Azerbaijan
Separation Day -- Delaware, US (date of declaration of separation from England and Pennsylvania)
Smile Power Day -- test out smile power today, it's free!
Sneak a Kiss Day -- usual litany of cautions with this internet generated holiday
St. Vitus' Day (Patron of actors, comedians, dancers, dogs, epilepsy sufferers; against animal attacks, dog bites, epilepsy, lightning, oversleeping, rheumatic chorea, Saint Vitus' Dance, snake bites, storms, wild beasts; Badia Calavena, Italy; Czech Republic; Forio, Italy; Prague, Czech Republic; Recanati, Italy; Vacha, Germany; Wetsens, Netherlands; Zeven, Germany)
Valdemar's Day and Reunion Day -- Denmark (an official Flag Day)
Vestalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (main and final celebration, in which the Temple of Vesta was swept clean)
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day -- because our elders deserve to be protected and cared for properly
Anniversaries Today:
King Hussein of Jordan marries Lisa Halaby (Queen Noor), 1978
Gustaf, Crown Prince of Sweden marries Princess Margaret of Connaught, 1905
Arkansas becomes the 25th US State, 1836
Birthdays Today:
William Dean Martin, 1981
Neil Patrick Harris, 1973
Leah Remini, 1970
Ice Cube, 1969
Lisa McCall, 1969
Dina Meyer, 1969
Courteney Cox Arquette, 1964
Helen Hunt, 1963
Julie Hagerty, 1955
Jim Belushi, 1954
Simon Callow, 1949
Nicola Pagett, 1945
Waylon Jennings, 1937
Mario Cuomo, 1932
Erroll Garner, 1921
Muzaffer Tema, 1919
Bob Wian, 1914
Edvard Grieg, 1843
Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson, 1767
Henry FitzRoy, illegitimate son of Henry VIII, 1519
Edward the Black Prince, 1330
Debuting/Premiering Today:
The Lion King(Animated film), 1994
Dick Tracy(Film), 1990
"Hee Haw"(TV), 1969
"My Little Margie"(TV), 1952
Today in History:
The Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history, BC763
King John of England puts his seal to the Magna Carta, 1215
The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, 1667
Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity, 1752
Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania, 1776
Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned flight (1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon explodes during their attempt to cross the English Channel, 1785
Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber, 1844
The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 1846
Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II and is the last emperor of the German Empire, 1888
The most destructive tsunami in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people, 1896
A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1000, 1904
Tabulating Computing Recording Corporation (IBM) is incorporated, 1911
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter, 1916
A German expedition led by Karl Wien lost sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat (9th highest mountain), the largest single day loss of life on an 8,000m peak, 1937
In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government of North America, 1944
Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations, 1994
Near earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon, 2002
In Bulgaria, remains that some believe to be the bones of John the Baptist, are scientifically proven to be from a Middle Eastern man and dated to be from the first century AD, 2012
Scotland Yard launches criminal inquiry and British Prime Minister Theresa May announces a public inquiry a day after the Grenfell Tower fire, 2017
A baseball jersey belonging to Babe Ruth becomes the most expensive item of sports memorabilia ever when it sells for $5.64 million at auction, 2019
In a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court rules 6-3 that gay and transgender workers cannot be discriminated against in the workplace, 2020
According to new DNA research taken from burials at Lake Issyk Kul, the 14th century plague the Black Death originated in Kyrgyzstan, 2022