Hail!

The first and last time I saw and experienced hail was when I was in high school.  I used to ride the school bus home and then I had to walk 40 minutes from the bus stop back to my house.  I remember thinking how lucky I was that day to get a ride home from one of my friends and not have to ride the bus for 40 minutes and then walk home for another 40 minutes in the rain.  And on that day, right after I got dropped off, it hailed!  I was fascinated by it.  I remember staring out the window until it stopped.  Maybe it’s because I’ve never seen snowfall or real snow and this is in no way the same thing as snow, but it’s the closest I’ll get. 

Fast forward 15 years and I had the same lucky feeling as it hailed out of nowhere.  It’s our regular day off (every other mondays) and we had just gotten home from picking up lunch.  We’re eating and all of a sudden it’s pouring outside.  It gets louder so I looked out the window and it’s hailing like crazy.  The hail I saw 15 years ago was nowhere near what I saw this time.  There was so much of it and it was so white that it looked like snow.  It was so beautiful.  I was in awe.  I grabbed my camera and headed out to the front yard.  My neighbor saw me and was giggling - he must have thought I was crazy.  Well, for someone who’s never seen snowfall or real snow, this could be pretty exciting.  Snow at Big Bear does not count as real snow.  Nor does dirty snow along the 15 fwy on the way to Vegas.

This was what my front yard looked like when it began hailing.

This is how white it was.

Another close-up as it continued to hail.  I was freezing but it was worth it!

Check out the small bush on the right.  I planted that when we moved into the house 6 years ago and at the time it was just a twig-like plant.  I bought it because of the pink flowers - they remind me of cherry blossoms.  Except these flowers here bloom year round.

This was my front lawn after 5 minutes of hail.

I must have been outside for a while because I couldnt feel my toes and Kenny ran out to tell me to take a picture of his car covered in ice.

I might as well take one of my car as well.

This shot was taken after 10 mins of hail.  I was really tempted to run out, but I think my foot was completely numb from the cold. 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!