We have lately been watching the Ken Burns videos about the Dust Bowl, well, right now, it looks very similar to those days. The dust is blowing so much that we can hardly see the horizon, the wind is very strong, and the sun is blocked. It is DIRTY! And because nowadays farming has changed, it has caused us to wonder where all this dirt is coming from. Trust me, it is nasty.
I had been wanting to ride Paradise for the longest time, but the weather has been against me. Sunday, we were at church and my grandparents' house, Monday, was way too hot to do anything outdoors, and today, I went to the sale barn with Daddy. We just got back as the weather changed from nice, to nasty.
But I had a good time with Dad at the sale barn; I had the pleasure to help my dad unload cattle, put tags on their backs, and push them to a pen. It was really hot, so I carried out an ice chest full of ice and bottled water. Yes, it was heavy, but I handled it. I also took two of my kid goats along to sell to a family who had talked with Dad about buying one. So, with Dad's help, we carried the dog carrier to the guy's pickup and trailer to gave him the two female goats. He was happy with how the nannies looked and his wife paid us a little later. I watched part of the sale and then headed to the café to see if they needed my help; they didn't. So I sat there for a while and talked with whoever sat next to me. Then I went back and watched the rest of the sale and spoke to a few other people I knew. After the last bull sold, Dad and I ate dinner and went to get our pickup which was at the mechanic.
We stopped at the bank first to cash some checks. We were going to pick up the Ford, but decided to go do some other business while the pickup was worked on still longer. We went to PTCI to return a phone we had been using to see about the service out here, and while we were in there, the lady working there had a phone that started an odd sound. She read out loud that a tornado was tracking through the town we were in and other towns near by. My heart jumped and a lady which was a customer panicked, saying, "Can I leave? I am leaving now!" And she ran out of the building. Another customer nodded and added, "Me too, I am leaving." The two ladies working at the PTCI store, also panicked and one said, "I have to leave. Like can't we move to another place?" Dad sat there and asked her where she would go. The girl was taken back by that and told him a basement, which that building didn't have.
Right then, a police car sped by, lights flashing and sirens on. He was followed by a couple of others. By the time we got outside, a handful of other people had gathered on the sidewalk, phones in hand and looking to the sky. We over heard a man say that he saw a tornado in the sky, but Dad and I did not see any sign of one. We called home and then went back inside. Dad had called a good friend and he had called back so I answered. He and his boys had seen a tornado just outside of the town we were in, but there was no sign of it causing any damage. We walked to another business and then picked up the pickup. We drove in a lot of wind, of course, and also some rain and a little hail. But the window was down all the way home and it was quite refreshing. We got home and it was windy and since then the dirt began blowing. We can kind of see the horizon now, but the wind is very strong.
I have got to say, this is stormy weather! I think the people were as panicked as they were because of the tornado in Moore, Okla. I just keep praying that no tornados will come near us. I hope where ever you are reading this from, you are safe and sound. So far, we are all fine here on the stormy weather ranch. : )
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