Shake, Rattle and Roll!!!

Round 4 hit like a sledge hammer.  It was a nice reasonably cool day until the dark clouds began to crowd the sky.  The wind picked up as the critters ran for cover.  Turn up your sound to hear the gamble quail talking, telling each other to hold on tight as they gather in the midst of a big tree for cover from nighttime predators.

At this point, the storm was far away.  It came in like gangbusters with lightning strikes that lit up my entire house every three seconds.  Yup, they came so fast I began to count.  It took about an hour and a half before heading off down the valley.  Flash flood warnings came almost as fast as the lightning.

Luckily I placed a tarp over one hole to try and keep the damage to a minimum.  Too bad I didn't have two tarps!!  If we have another storm like that one, I won't be able to get my truck out of the garage.  No, I'm not kidding!   And so it goes in the desert!!  The cool thing is all the flowers are blooming and everything is gorgeous green.  

THEN there was this ........  

I've probably watched these videos twenty times now.  She is a BEAUTY!!

Not to be outdone, Mrs. Black Widow was showing off her web making skills.  I can't tell you how unusual it is to see this in the daytime.  They only come out at night.  Straight above her is the downspout where she lives.  So much rain has come through that it ruined her web.  Time for a little repair job.

It's interesting that she spun her silk upside down, showing off her little red hourglass.  She's about 1-1/2 inches long as I got down close with my phone.  Smile!!  At least these guys don't jump at you!!  Suddenly she realized there was something too close and she made a beeline for the downspout.  FAST she was and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

I rather imagine she didn't fare too well in last night's downpour, as gallons of water poured down the spout.  Itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout.  Down came the rain and ..... well you know the words to that one.  A fairy tale come to life.

With two more days of big thunder storms headed our way, I think I better go find a big tarp and leave my truck down the driveway ... you know, just in case I need a fast getaway!!