May 20, 2013

  • Wichita was under a tornado watch for several hours yesterday afternoon. A tornado touched down SW of town. It did damage to about three rural homes, but only partial damage - a carport demolished, trees pulled up by the roots.

    In my area, there was hail and high winds that resulted in leaves on the ground. I had just finished mowing four yards when the storm hit. I mow all the neighboring yards, six in all, about 4 acres worth. The peony patch was flooded, but the flowers are ok. Usually, we harvest the peonies before Mother’s Day. This year, the flowers weren’t ready until a few days ago. Late snows and cold days retarded the growth of most trees, plants and bushes.

    The aerial map shows my house and garage (A & B) and the peony patch is C. The read border shows the properties I mow. The one in the top left corner only shows half of that yard. There are 60 years among all the properties, and just as many bushes.