As The Storm Blew In

The evening started out normal enough.  I love to sit out in the field at the end of the day. Sometimes Hank and I sit together on the gravel.  Sometimes we walk down to the creek.  Last night I was sitting with my back to the waterer by the gate while he covered things from the hill.

I took several videos of the sheep grazing, listening to the birds going to bed, the cicadas whirring. They were all terrible.  I had the heavy zoom lens on the camera and I couldn't hold it steady.  I'll try again tonight because it really is peaceful. From the top, Murphy, Daniel, Clover Belly (not normally in the late grazer crowd?), Maisie.  Front row Hershey, Woody and Renny.

All's quiet and Hank doses off...until out of the blue the skies darken, the wind picks up and thunder starts rumbling in the distance.

"Okay, I'm outta here."

We are fortunate that Hank feels secure ducking into the barn during storms.  In fact, not only does he go into "his stall", but he also has a big insulated dog house in there that Tim built for him last winter. He hides in there even when it's 90 million degrees.  

Many dogs are so afraid of storms that they'll panic and bolt and can travel several miles.  If you ever find a guard dog or border collie (or any other dog really) running around after a storm looking confused, don't immediately think they've been dumped.  Check with your local and not so local vets and animal shelters.

The view behind me.  That orange glow just behind our house (you can see the chimney sticking out) was sure eerie.

Up Stella's driveway.  Yes, that's a sheep on the bottom of the photo.  They stay out as long as they can stand when there's food involved ;-).

Clouds over the barn.

The horses head for cover.

Which finally sends the sheep up the hill.  Except Graham, still out grazing by himself in the next field.  I have no idea why he went out there when everyone else was in the front.   We frequently don't know why Graham does what he does ;-).

"Is this really necessary?  We weren't done eating!"

This was about when the rain started so Liddy and I took cover in the barn and got stuck in there for 20 minutes before I decided it wasn't going to let up any time soon and sprinted for the house.  What an odd summer.