Finally a monsoon storm!
It came with ferocity, late afternoon a few days ago : thunder, lightning, wind, pelting hail and, at last! rain. 0.7 inches of it in the space of 5-10 minutes.
This storm was brief but it had a mean, destructive heart and vandalized the garden. Heads were torn off sunflowers, leaves shredded, grapes strewn around.
Two days later the young cowpeas (Vigna ungulata) are recovering. They are tough survivors. I am hoping they will mostly shrug off the shredded leaves. A few did take fatal hail blows which severed the stems. They will become compost.
Rainwater tanks, all overflowing again, have been treated for mosquitoes.
One good thing is the storm prodded the conscience of a reputable contractor who has been promising for months to give me a quote for addressing the roof leaks. He turned up unannounced yesterday, with a ladder, to look at the roof.
There is some urgency about the roof fix. The kitchen ceiling is increasingly unstable while I’ve had to move things around in to studio to stop leaks there destroying any more stuff.
Old houses. Gotta love them.
When I look at pictures of the mess hurricanes and tornadoes make of the standard new construction USA frame houses, I am glad my walls are stone and adobe.
The roof? Ah that. One can’t do serious repairs on a roof here in monsoon season, because the area needs to be dry and to stay dry for several days before and after, but at least I can get the contractors lined up and the materials purchased.
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