In our last episode–Thursday morning, you’ll remember, the morning coffee carafe exploded. No injuries, just great surprise. Late that afternoon, I drove into Albuquerque to meet several friends for dinner and we enjoyed a lovely meal on the patio at O’Niell’s on Juan Tabo. Darkening skies and a few large raindrops ended the evening and sent me back to the high desert.
I was surprised to pass three different traffic accidents in the canyon and the farther east I went, the heavier the rain. When I exited the interstate, the road crossing under the interstate was flooded and the power was out. Odd. As I drove north, I was amazed at the flooding on several sections of the highway. Adjacent fields and pastures were flooded or awash with running water. Half way home traffic came to a halt as one of the intersections was impassable. State troopers and local TV stations were set up and one by one, cars turned around to find another direction.
I didn’t have a choice and decided to navigate through some small neighborhoods to a dirt road west of us. The entire area was awash in mud and debris—it looked like a war zone. I imagine it must be what areas look like after hurricane, but hurricanes are not a common occurrence in the high desert of New Mexico.
I consider myself very fortunate Subaru forester was not only an all terrain vehicle but also a bit of an amphibious assault vehicle. We got to half a dozen flooded intersections and when I finally got home, I was pleased it was all in one piece.
The nightly news reported a large storm cell that passed through dumping 2 inches of rain in about 20 minutes, golf ball size hail, and 60 mph winds. My dogs were fine, thank heaven. Of the four windows on the north side, only two were broken.(shattered, screen-Gone). Half the bedroom floor is soaked.
There’s no major structural damage. It looks like the paint on the house was sandblasted as well as everything on the property. I have insurance and I’m sure the damage will be covered. But the castle walls have been breached, and it leaves me feeling vulnerable and a little unsafe. It’s not as serious as so many have suffered, but it’s an awful feeling.
More news as it happens…
Words of Barrett 
If I hear about any plagues or swarms of locusts, we’re coming to get you out of there….
Whew, well that’s good to know! Say…how many qualifies as a “swarm”?
Glad to hear the damage was relatively minor in the scheme of things and that you are safe! We’re entering the height of the hurricane season here, always an uneasy time.
I can’t imagine what that must be like, good luck with both kinds of storms 😉 Thanks for stopping by.
It was amazing. My meeting conference call ended early, and I thought I’d start putting dogs out in yards, about 6:15. Took another look at the sky and did a hurry up in and out with each set. Rain started hitting with the last dog, and then we hunkered down. Power went out at 8PM, candles went on. My friend up in Cedar Grove lost pretty much every shred of garden and trees to the hail. We just had more water than I have ever seen pouring through the yard. Well, we did need rain
Wow! Sorry about your windows! Good thing the puppies didn’t try to exit??!! There was snow on the pass just south of Santa Fe yesterday afternoon and an accident from it as we went through. Blew us away – literally! Weve been here 4 days and seen 4 opries – and then back to the kitties each night to “play” at 1AM!! Kind of exhausted, so no thoughts of social activity yet! We’ll be here through next week too, so we gotta find a time!
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Thanks for your note, I’m glad the storm didn’t blow through the opera house. Give me a call next week and we’ll see what we can figure out.
Wow, sorry to hear about that! Glad you and the pooches are okay!!
Thanks Tammy-Golden-Heart, We’re all huddling a little closer today.
Wow, I’m so glad you made it home safely! It sound slike quite a storm blew through and left a trail of wreckage behind. You are right, insurance will take care of the physical damage but I also understand you feeling vulnerable and unsure. I hope life settles down for you and the dogs, it has been a lttle too exciting lately. Hang in there. ((Barrett))
Thanks, Beth. I’ve lived here for 14 years and never seen anything like it. My neighbor, who was home at the time, said it was deafening.