Calling for Noah's Ark

Today is an off day for Le Tour de France while they travel to the Pyrenees for mountain stages (YES!!!). Sunday was the Team Time Trial which was won by only a single second - very tightly contested. Congratulations to BMC Racing for pulling off an exciting win. Chris Froome (Sky) retains the Yellow Jersey as they go into the first of the mountain stages tomorrow.

Time trials for teams aren't usually this tight. BMC won the time
trial by only a single second! 

Yesterday was hot and seriously humid - something was just waiting to break open. Around 11:00 pm, the skies opened and the first of two major thunderstorms passed through. I'm not sure if it was the many lightning strikes, the whoosh of the rain covering everything, or DH checking to make sure we weren't flooding that first wakened me, but all three played a part in a restless night.

Rain can be wonderful, but so destructive also. I'm very grateful
that we didn't flood last night. 

DH was worried that the flood controls we've built over the years might not hold. In fact, he said that one more good blow through in this storm and we would flood. Fortunately that didn't happen, but it was a near thing. He'll be on a ladder cleaning out the rain gutters this morning before coming in to work.

DH cleans the rain gutters regularly to help keep the house safe. He had
it down to a fine science, so to speak. He'll clean the front and side
gutters before heading to work today just to make sure we're able to
handle another rain like last night. 

Over the years, we've become expert at flooding in our lowest level. When our next door neighbors constructed a basketball court in their back yard, it changed the drainage that had been in existence for their property and pulled all of their rain water down into our yard. Changes in topography of our own property over the years via tree roots, etc., have created mini-lakes when we get a good rain, and those can overflow into the window wells and flood the house. It's always touch and go with a hard rain. Fortunately, we escaped damage last night.

The window was alight with lightning strikes during this storm. It was
like hundreds of cameras all going off at the same time, but a lot
more dangerous. Beautiful, though. 

I'm really curious about how much lightning we actually got. Looking toward the living room window, it was as if we were A-list stars attending a premiere with the flashbulbs of paparazzi going off from every direction en-masse. Crazy! I hope your night was a bit less eventful than mine. Happy Monday to all!