Rocks and Spiders

I moved a bunch of rocks last weekend. These rocks have been sitting underneath what will one day be my kids' swingset. They were there way too long! I built a stone retaining wall, but very slowly--I'll post a picture some day... Anyway, I noticed something when moving the rocks: if there are leaves attached to the rock, check for spiders. I saw lots of them, mostly black widow spiders. The largest black widow spider that I saw had a leg span of about an inch and a half! Yes, I was wearing gloves. Yes, I killed lots of spiders.

Hail Storm, April 12, 2005

This is truly one of the most brilliant rainbows I have ever seen! The sun came out shortly after the hail storm left and there was a lot of mist in the air, still. Shortly after I took this picture, the ground started creating fog--all of the hail cooled off the ground air and it looked like somone left the freezer door open--one HUGE freezer door, that is!

Hail Storm, April 12, 2005

This is a mound of hail that came down the downspout! There was still some left the next morning!

Hail Storm, April 12, 2005

Here you can see the hail that collected in the yard. Yes, I waited until the storm stopped before going out to take any pictures and assess any damage (didn't see any, except for lots of new leaves that fell off of my trees).

Hail Storm, April 12, 2005

Hail collecting on the deck. You can see it coming down, still--look for the white streaks on the left-hand side of the picture about 1/4 the way down from the top.