Tornado Alley

We had another day of active weather, yesterday.  Happily, although there were approximately twenty tornadoes reported in the state, they were mainly small and primarily stayed in pastures, traumatizing cows.  One skirted Stillwater and caused a ruckus, and a semi was flipped west of there but as far as I know, property damage was minimal and no one was hurt.

Here is a photo of storm clouds firing up looking towards the east:

The storms were both north and south of us but we didn't get any rain, thunder or lightning. Pearl, who is afraid of storms, is a good barometer of whether there is anything active in the vicinity.

She wasn't too worried.

Before the storms, I continued to unsuccessfully try to get photos of our roadrunner pair.  They are making me crazy.  They have a nest right behind our backyard fence in the trees.  I set up the birdcam in that area because they are constantly going back and forth.  Yesterday, the daddy had a snake in his mouth.   With the storms coming in, I didn't turn on the birdcam, thinking they would have the good sense to hunker down.  But no.  Before our eyes, the male roadrunner got into fisticuffs with two crows who had invaded his territory trying to get some suet I'd set out.  Talons flying, tail puffed up, the whole works.  Mama Roadrunner came out to provide backup and they chased crows all over the pasture for about two hours.  A particularly big fight was directly in front of the birdcam - which was turned off.  Grrrr.  I was having such a good time watching them that I didn't want to interrupt to turn on the cam. 

We had a fabulous sunset and enjoyed a cool drink on the patio while we watched Mother Nature do her thing.  Here are a few shots. 

Looking to the southeast as the storm builds:

See the blue sky?  The dry line passed us relatively early giving us a safe show towards the east and southeast:

As the sun begins to set and add color:

Looking due east and enjoying how the clouds reflected the active atmosphere:

Oh, how I missed this back east:

Look at the energy in those clouds!:

Straight out of the camera, baby - no color added!

While sitting and enjoying the evening, Mimi called to let me know that she was heading home to her ranch after getting a good report from her doctor.  She'd been driving in the wake of a tornado and pulled over to take a photo of a double rainbow.  We also had one (a single):

What a fabulous day.

Happy Quilting, Penny, Evelyn and Pearl