Mother Nature

Mother Nature had her cranky pants on yesterday.

She wasn’t going to let anyone forget that ‘she’ is the boss.

It had been a perfect blue-skied day, a wee bit sultry but all in all quite pleasant.

I noticed rain clouds building to the south and in my infinite wisdom, thought, ‘I can get the grass mown before it arrives’. My not so trusty mower took some time to start. My arm almost pulled from the socket in my attempts to get it to go.

But go it did, sputtering as it kicked over. I was off at a good clip, zooming up and back, up and back. A mumma butcher bird was there with her baby. Both eagle eyed and snavelling up unsuspecting bugs. It was a real feast.

Front lawn done (don’t be kidded, it is most definitely not ‘lawn’ – it is green though). I noticed the sky darkening, and thought to myself, ‘you better get a hurry on’.

It began again, the up and back, up and back. Three strips to go and a loud crash had me scream, high-pitched just like a girl. The wind was blowing and I thought a door had slammed shut. Then another crash and I realised it was hail. Huge chunks of ice being thrown like at a baseball game.

Once I’d hightailed it inside, more screaming ensued. The force from the heavens was something to behold. Frozen solid orbs exploded through the pergola roof, wind whipped ferociously. It was both terrifying and mesmerising.

It calmed, and then the rain fell in sheets, pooling ankle deep in the backyard. More hail arrived, smaller this time, more of it but smaller, much smaller. And then the skies cleared, the blue of late afternoon belying the force that had been.

I took a deep breath, observed the destruction and prayed her angry burst would dissipate on its way out to sea. It didn’t happen, a path of destruction ensued.

Don’t bottle up your anger. Don’t let your emotions build up like Mother Nature’s wrath. Don’t let your words and actions leave a hole in someone else’s heart by letting loose your anger. That hurt and damage is so much harder to repair than a hole in the roof.

Take care, be kind to each other and take a breather if you notice a storm building.