July 21

Last night was the longest of my life! Oh, it was such a nightmare!

Since the windiness the other day, we've been keeping a close eye on the weather reports, and for yesterday it said possible thunderstorms. But it was only about a 30% chance of rain, and maybe some relatively high winds; so we rolled up the awning and secured everything outside; and this time we checked to be sure we didn't leave the ceiling vent open above the dog's bed / shower stall, so she wouldn't get wet.

By then, it was getting close to nighttime, so we all decided to stay out to enjoy the breeze. Out over the water, the clouds started swirling a bit, then we saw a few far-off flashes and heard some distant rumbling. We watched on for a time, thinking we maybe should go in soon, but it looked like the storm would miss us. So the kids started playing tag out on the grass while Thorin and I sat at the picnic table and had some coffee and a cuddle. After a while, though, Gimli started laughing and pointing at Kíli; and we all looked over and saw that his hair was standing on-end.

We all giggled a bit at first – then we realized what it meant! Well, we ran into the trailer quick as we could, and there we all hunkered down together as far away from the walls as we were able (the trailer is grounded, thankfully, but still it is metal!). Then, it began! The rain started coming down in sheets, and the wind picked up, and the trailer started rocking, and lightning lit up the place! From the windows of our trailer we can see the water, and we watched on as the bolts danced all over it!

For about the first half hour, the dog barked every time the thunder sounded (which was a lot!). And since we hadn't gotten to walk her before the storm hit, she made a bit of a mess on the floor before we managed to get her into the shower stall. The poor thing! I wonder if she always reacted like this to storms, and if Sally had her ways of calming her; but Frodo patted Hershey's head and told her over and over that it was okay, even though he was scared out of his own wits, and she finally stopped barking.

Rolly, though! He kept jumping in his fright, and he hissed, arched his back, and tore holes in the window screens! And nothing any of us could do would calm him down in the slightest, so we just tried to keep our distance so as not to get clawed. For some odd reason, he ended up jumping into the shower stall with the dog! Hershey was a bit scared by him at first, but somehow I guess they were united against this common "foe" of a thunderstorm, because they actually laid down next to each other in the tub, and they stayed like that all night!

Then the rest of us tried to calm ourselves and go to bed; but both Gimli and Frodo were scared and fretting, and so they joined me and Thorin in our room (and it made me feel secure having them in there, too; though it was terribly crowded and hot, and my sunburn was rubbing on everyone and everything in the bed, and the kids tracked in sand!). The older boys, meanwhile, settled in on the couch- and table-beds, where Frodo and Gimli usually sleep; and after a while, Fíli and Kíli actually managed to drop off (judging by the snoring, which was somewhat louder than the thunder at points), but the younger boys and Thorin and I didn't get a wink until the storm eased up some time after maybe 1:00 AM.

When we went out to check out the damage in the morning, though, we saw that it really wasn't so bad out there! A few things got tossed around, and Frodo's wading pool had gotten off somewhere (maybe it flew out to sea!), and the grass all around the trailer was a boggy mess; but we hadn't lost power, no large branches or trees had come down near us, no windows were broken (either on the trailer or on the car), and the day was bright and beautiful (if excessively hot and humid and–to Gimli's dismay–buggy).

But, Heavens! I never want to go through anything like that again!