Words that flow...

Words and images - powerful elements of our everyday life. Most of the time we take them for granted, but sometimes something happens to make you aware of how important they are... and how thankful you are to have the opportunity to use or appreciate them. Here lies some of my words and pictures (which are untouched apart from cropping, unless I've said otherwise) - Please add your words to mine, and leave a comment. Thanks for visiting!

18 January 2007

Making the Best of a Stormy Day...

Well, the words of the day all have to do with gale-force winds, biting rain, fallen trees and the most glorious clouds (well, as Mimi and Mother of Invention both say, I am partial to a bit of sky... :-) )

So, I woke to the sound of wind battering the front door, and as I turned the bottom step (which faces the door), felt the seeping of water stretch up from the carpet between my toes... The wind had blown the rain in sideways under the door, leaving the carpet was squishy and sodden...and cold... and not terribly inviting first thing in the morning!!

Looking out the window, I watched as trees became limbo dancers, bent almost double to fit under the bar-like wind...

The ground was scattered with still-roving debris... the tops of two garden solar lamps, general litter, a dustbin lid and half a car bumper (??!!??)... all seen through a haze of sideways rain...



(The tree in my back garden just wouldn't stay still for it's portrait!)

I took a couple of videos (they only last a minute each) of the wind, and decided it didn't look very exciting after all, so got ready for work instead...

Big puddles on the road (the kind you have to drive slowly through or around, otherwise you either flood the engine or skid out of control) kept car speed to the minimum, with me constantly on the alert for fallen branches. When the roads are tree-lined, it's inevitable there's one down somewhere!

Wasn't long before the alert paid off, and the rear lights of the cars in front looked more like an airport runway than a flow of traffic. No way through. And, what's worse, it looked like someone might have just gone into the tree (couldn't see since it was around a corner) as an ambulance was arriving on scene. There wasn't anything I could do there... loads of other drivers milling around already, so I turned the car and took a different route, with the rest of the 'runway' following me...

Only 15 minutes late for work as well!



(angry clouds, really making themselves known -
doesn't it look like a crab claw grabbing a fish by the tail?)



The day was pretty uneventful, apart from doors crashing and banging, a couple of mini-powercuts, getting soaked running back and forth between the buildings... that kind of stuff.


(Can you see the dolphin in this one?)



This afternoon, it cleared enough for me to walk the dogs after work. It was, as I said, glorious! The fresh wind was blowing and gusting, throwing my scarf in all directions. The dogs were wild with joy, running with their tails wagging and tongues hanging... I was grinning like a mad-woman, snapping left right and centre... Oh yes, there was the perfect sky for me... I could have stayed out there all day capturing clouds (said I looked like a madwoman, didn't I? :-D )!!

But, there was a time limit between getting home from work, and fetching my daughter from school, and it's one that shouldn't (even though I do) overstep too often... So, I ran the last bit of the way, knowing I'd be late if I met any other dogs... and, just as I reached the road leaving the forest, was faced with the sun making a space for itself in the sky (unfortunately it didn't come out as well as it looked, but you get the idea):







And now for the event that broke my heart today...

It's like I've lost a friend...

As I stopped the car to pick up my son from scouts, I noted that the only space left was where I would have to step out of the car and into at least an inch or two of puddle :-( This had me pausing a couple of moments after the engine stopped, while I considered if I could walk on water... but eventually had to face my mortality - and lack of divinity...

I opened the door, and tested the depth with one foot - there was a kind of mound in the center. If I could just throw my other foot the same distance, I might just make it to the scout hut door without water seeping between my toes for the second time today!! So, one swift movement, and splash! Nope, it wasn't my other foot. That hadn't even touched the ground yet. Was it my mobile phone? No... I hadn't taken it... didn't think I'd need it for the 10 minute round trip. So, what the heck was it??

Then I remembered... I'd been writing a bit on one of my poems just before I went out, and had put the pda on my lap...

OhMyGodNo!!

or should I say NOOOOOooooooooooo!!!!!*@$~#*!!!

Unfortunately. Yes. And Guess what silly bugger hadn't saved onto the computer for several weeks!!! Yep, that was me too. Dammit! [This is the point were a good swear really does make you feel better... and yes, I had a really good swear... until I realised there were a couple of scouts looking at me a bit shocked, at which point I just muttered under my breath at my stupidity :-( ]

I picked my poor, dying friend out of the mud-engorged water, and watched as the dirt drip-dripped from the holes... The light was on, but nothing on the screen. But the light was on - that was 'hope', wasn't it? I shook the water onto tissues, stuck a bit of loo-paper in every crevice, but nothing except that eerie, unresponsive light (which wouldn't turn off)... it was short-circuiting. I've had the little hand-held next to the heater for the last couple of hours. There's no life left in it now. It doesn't turn on when you push the button. All the words it held forever lost...

Oh god, I think I'm gonna cry! (no, really!! ) I had several verses to put on Heroines and Heroes, there were lots of half-finished poems, and (Oh no, I've just remembered) the start of the book I was writing... and worst of all... there was a poem for my wonderful daughter, who lives with her dad and I don't see so much anymore...

My lifeline. Severed.

So, I'm going to go away and find a book or something to cheer me up... but I'll leave you with one last photo from today:





(oh yes, I'll be putting some of the other photos from today and yesterday over the next couple of days...)

© Annelisa Christensen 6:56 pm

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18 Comments:

At January 18, 2007 11:47 pm, Blogger TopChamp said...

Oh - that's really bad news about dropping the pda in the puddle.... fingers crossed for a miraculous recovery once it's got over it's bath perhaps....

And you were having so much fun looking(?) like a mad woman too!

I'm glad that you keep your camera handy - the photos are amazing (I like the windy trees best) and I wanted to know how bad it was - what better way than to see for yourself?

 
At January 19, 2007 12:35 am, Blogger Annelisa said...

Ha ha, TC!! Yes, I'm sure I did more than look like a madwoman... with trees creaking round me, and a few branches coming down (huge one across the entrance to the forest while I was there...) Probably madder than I'd like to appear :-D

It's now 4 hours later, and PDA's still in a coma... :-(

Don't forget, the pictures were the lull in the storm. I did get some video footage, but it wasn't that dramatic (could feel the wind howling round... or blasting so hard against you that you couldn't walk down the street!)

 
At January 19, 2007 2:27 am, Blogger Maryam in Marrakesh said...

So sorry, Annelisa dear. but if it's any consolation, I would like to take your second picture and blow it up really big and put it on my living room wall. And then of course, just walk right in...

 
At January 19, 2007 8:37 am, Blogger Annelisa said...

Morning Maryam

Tried my pda this morning...no vital signs showing :-( I'll leave it for a couple of days, then try again... and keep my fingers crossed (no, of course I'm not superstitious !! :-) )

 
At January 19, 2007 12:40 pm, Blogger that frolicsome kid said...

Oh my gosh! I am so incredibly sorry to hear that your PDA dropped into the puddle of water. =( Man, I know the feeling. =( =( It's like my NaNoWriMo novel being wiped out by the thunderstorm, or the all important computer project for GCE O Levels completely gone because my computer broke down and my pen drive containing the back-up copy dropped into the orange juice.

*shudders* Touch wood.

You must be having a hard time. Cheer up, I don't think things are that bad. Do you still vaguely remember the verses in your head?

I really don't know how to help you. I wish I was David Copperfield, that way I could help revive/restore your PDA to its original state.

Did you try to send your PDA to the repair shop? Maybe the technicians could help.

All the best to you annelisa!

You know the picture where the crab grabbed the fish by the tail? Well, to me, it looks like a man pointing a drumstick into the air. *chuckle*

At first sight, I thought the trees was some nice painting. Upon reading the caption, I realised it's not. Great effect, annelisa, love it! =)

I really hope you wake up to a shining, gleaming PDA back to its original state.

 
At January 19, 2007 3:24 pm, Blogger Mother of Invention said...

Oh rats! I could say that's what you get for being so high tech, but I won't since that's just plain frustrating! I'm really sorry you lost the poem for your daughter.I hadn't known she didn't live with you and that you didn't see her often. Boo.

Guess I'd rather have snow than all the wicked wind/rainstorms I'm hearing about.

I saw 2 dolphins in the pic before the one where you mentioned a dolphin! I never saw the crab etc.

Hope the weather gets nicer!

(Hey, have you seen the movie, "The Queen"? I wondered what people living there thought of it.?? I saw it last night...was good but not 5 stars or anything.)

 
At January 19, 2007 4:06 pm, Blogger bulletholes said...

Annelisa, this is bad news. ithe first 7 blogs i did were on an abandoned blogsite.. i pourede my heart into them . Then I got my oewn site. I went to the old one to transfer one day.. and yep- it was gone. Then I remembered that I had made hard copies. But I got that initial jolt. I feel for you.
i liked your crab chasing the fish... reminds me of Ahab in Moby Dick who said "look into the deep, Man, see Gods creatures chase and fang each other"...
I guess we all do that.
By the way, you give great instructions... my post is chock full of links (you have created a monster)

 
At January 19, 2007 7:40 pm, Blogger QUASAR9 said...

So you been getting battered by 90 MPH winds
Well we got the tail end
but awoke to a beautiful sunny day

 
At January 19, 2007 10:22 pm, Blogger Annelisa said...

Frolicsome Kid!!! So good to see you back! I shall be over when I can to find out how your trip was!

Losing the pda to the dirty waters wasn't the worst thing that ever happened... I'll survive... just!! :-( I'm actually finding it quite difficult, as I keep reaching for it to jot down some stray thought, realising it won't turn on, and by the time I've hunted for paper and pen, being distracted by kiddie things, I've forgotten what it was that was so life-changingly amazing... Of course, I've probably solved all the world problems several times over the day, but unfortunately... y'know... it's just...gone

Haven't had time to send the poor blighter to the repair shop... it was only last night, and I've been out all day. I'm hoping that, once properly dry, there might be some residual bit of life left... at least enough to transfer what was there onto the pc. What's more likely, though, is that - if there is life left, the whole thing will be reset, and none of previous writings will be saved anyhow :-( (such pessimism...)

I remember verses vaguely, but it's more the ideas rather than the actual wording, and mostly I can't reproduce things as they were.... I know from previous occassions when I've lost paper copies... never mind... plenty more things to write...

Now you mention, the cloud does look a bit like a drumstick....

 
At January 19, 2007 10:27 pm, Blogger Annelisa said...

You're right, MOI, what was so good for me is now my downfall... Oh woe is me!!

I have two sons and two daughters... My eldest daughter has lived with her dad since the summer... Miss her most of the time :-(

Apparently we're going to have snow from Monday onward, after more wind and rain this weekend.... yep, definately looking forward to snow... it'll make a nice change. Apparently a large area nearby has been without electricity since the storm hit... Wouldn't like to be them!

No, haven't seen 'The Queen'... never even heard of it- I'll look out for it.

 
At January 19, 2007 10:44 pm, Blogger Annelisa said...

Steve - I've been wondering how you came to use an abandoned blog site in the first place... was it just floating past one day, and you reeled it in?? :-) Did you get salvage rights on it? Just as well you were more sensible than me, and managed to save your first blogs!

Actually, I'm even stupider than I at first appear!! A few weeks ago, after my birthday meal, I went back to my friend's sister's place, and there was a problem with someone's camera memory card. Realising it was the same card that goes in my pda, I offered to test it out. The moment I turned it on, and put in the card, the screen went wild, and kept coming out with weird stuff. I thought there must've been a virus on it, and went away fed up that all my stuff was lost then. On the return home, I discovere it was just a stuck button, and all was well. You would think I'd have backed up the darned thing back then, wouldn't you!!!

Ahab... Moby Dick... Good connection (you have a certain way with making these links, don't you! :-) )

I looked at your post today - well done, Steve! I thought you might bin the instructions as indecipherable!! :-) Glad you managed to do it, though... makes life easier. But, if you're putting it in the main post, there's an even easier way of doing it! (I'll email you :-D )

 
At January 19, 2007 10:47 pm, Blogger Annelisa said...

We had the winds, Q9, but, like with you, today begun so crystal clear... I've got some (many) photos today. In fact, where I was going to put more storm photos up, there's a couple of pictures from today I'm going to put up first... You'll like the one with the mini-rainbow in the sky (can't remember what you called it now... a halo? or something like that...)

 
At January 20, 2007 3:13 am, Blogger Mother of Invention said...

I'm glad Steve could follow the instructions! I think I have a disability in this area!!! And Steve's probably way smarter!

 
At January 20, 2007 8:55 am, Blogger Annelisa said...

Hold on a min... I'll send the same instructions to you, and see whether that's true! :-)

 
At January 20, 2007 1:06 pm, Blogger soubriquet said...

Oh Annelisa, I did like those pictures. Especially the crazywaving trees in your garden.
I was away up to the north of you, dodging flying branches, debris, wheely-bins.
A friend who drives trucks was in the cafe at lunchtime, telling me of the chaos he'd seen on the motorway, a load of hay spread over a quarter mile, spinning and lifting. Later in the day another trucker friend asked me to go see his wife, who wasn't answering the phone, although he knew she'd be in all day with a feverish toddler.
Two things, he was concerned about her, and he wanted me to explain that he was alright, but they were keeping him in hospital after his truck rolled. When it went over, flipped by the wind, with 25 tons of machines on the back, everything in the cab cascaded out of the pockets and locker. He got a karate-chop from a clipboard. just above the ear and bled copiously, but no fracture. still, they kept him for 24 hours just to be sure.
At home, they had a tree down, taking out the phone lines, mother and child baking and singing songs, watching the neighbour's fence disappear bit by bit.
I dashed back to work with a call about steel roofing sheets lifting and threatening to rip free...
Signs ripped off, a gate smashed into a car, flooding into some offices. Just down the road, a tree down across the canal, almost sinking a narrowboat in its death throes. chainsaws and shouting. Then another call. a couple of hundred yards away the end wall has crashed down on a house. Only a few years old house. not like the heavyweight victorians around it. Nobody hurt.
But a crazy day all the same.

 
At January 20, 2007 2:18 pm, Blogger Annelisa said...

Whoah, Soubriquet! That sounds like a hair-raising day - a bit scary and a bit exciting, but mostly worrying!

Glad to hear your friend's ok - I heard that several lorries went over, and from someone else that they'd never seen so many lorries and trucks lining the roads, where the drivers didn't dare risk the wind!

One of my neighbours told me yesterday that they'd seen three trampolines caught in hedges or trees - even though they are really heavy, I guess they've got the perfect lifting area! Hopefully none of them hit anyone as they went!

Thanks for sharing your experiences of the day - as you say, it was crazy!

 
At January 27, 2007 4:00 am, Blogger Mimi Lenox said...

Annelisa- That would truly make me sick. I'm sorry!

 
At January 27, 2007 10:12 am, Blogger Annelisa said...

Thanks Mimi... I did try to give it mouth to mouth... but it hasn't resusitated thus far... Still in a coma :-(

 

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