Its Right Outside The Door

There have been a few amazing moments within the last 30 days, and both have occurred right outside the front door.  These freak occurrences were literally on our doorstep.  Perhaps they are great examples of extremes.  Both were quite a surprise.

I was lying in bed, doing the typical early morning routine of falling in and out of sleep.  Wake up, look around for a sec and drift back off.  Usually, I am jarred back to life from Sunny bumping into the bed with his morning ritual.  I know when his is ending because of the slow hypnotic licking he does before he gets out of bed (or off his bed).  He is a believer in his morning grooming.

It was just light enough to illuminate the room.  Sunny had started to stir, but not too much.  I was mimicking him, a little bit of tossing and turning, but not too much.  I think we were both drifting off into some early morning feel good dream when it happened.

SWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH! 

My eyes popped open and at the same time Sunny raised his head up as if it doubled as some sort of look out tower.  He sat still with his head up high and facing the wall.  He looked at me with a sideways glance and sat very still.  He slowly turned his head the other way towards the window.  He and I both stared blankly at the morning blankness outside the window. 

It was an odd sound.  Odd enough to have Sunny sit up and really take note, being on complete alert.  It sounded like a big ‘swoosh’.  It was if God had a giant notepad, took a huge sheet of paper out, held it up right outside the window, and ripped it in half.  Mind you, this would be a God sized piece of paper from his legal pad, so you can imagine the sound and how long it lasted.  Sunny looks back to me and we both decide it is nothing to be concerned about. Not now at least.

When we all decided it was time to get up, we each take turns starting to move around.  Tonya had done her morning stuff and corralled the dogs and had started to make her way downstairs to put some coffee on and let the dogs out.  I was just putting my pants on when I hear her say, “Tim. Come here!”  I start to hurry up and she says in a very firm and loud tone, “Tim. Come down here.  Come look at this” I knew from the tone that this was not typical Tonya.  I slipped on my flip-flops and yelled down to her that I was coming.

Open the door...wall of vines!

I get to the bottom of the stairs and turn and head towards the door.  She is standing with her back to me.  The dogs are standing outside all looking the same direction…straight ahead.  Everyone’s’ backs are facing me, facing what was at hand.  I cannot believe what I see, so I step passed Tonya out onto the driveway. It is amazing.  This must be what the giant swoosh was that Sunny and I heard.

The wall that runs the full length of the yard had been covered in crawling ivy and vines.  This had been a process that had been going on for more than 30 years.  This wall was high too, about 20 feet tall.  30 years of growth now lay peeled back and onto the driveway.  I had never seen anything like this, not had Tonya…or the dogs.  We all stood there and just stared at it.  I walked back and forth, looking at the huge wall of vines, peeled back like cheap wallpaper.  The dogs walked back and forth, sniffing it to try and figure out what was going on too. 

A view looking down the driveway.  Check the scale!

Tonya overcame the surprise and soon became upset.  She called the gardener and asked a few neighbors if they had had this happen before.  There were a few tips and some said they had the very same thing happen to them.  The gardener showed up later and said he would have to cut the whole thing down and dismantle it so it could be put into a truck and driven off.  He says he will return with the proper tools the next day.  The chore of trying to re-hang the vines would prove to be too costly.  The gardener said he didn’t think it would be worth it trying to save parts of it. Tonya arranged to have Sr. Cruz join in and the two would soon be working in tandem to dismantle it all.

Now, everyday I step outside, the driveway feels naked.  It is odd looking at this giant bare wall where just a few weeks ago it seemed like some lush, tropical getaway.

And then today;

I was standing in the kitchen, washing up the dishes left over form breakfast.  We are now in the grips of the rainy season and the skies were turning grey.  Tonya had stepped outside to have a smoke, and coming back in she said, “I think we should take the guys out before it really starts raining.  It is already staring to drizzle”.  I tell her I am washing dishes and as soon as I finish, we could go.  I step up the pace a bit.

I dry my hands and grab my handy jacket.  I tell the dogs we are going for a walk, and on cue, they immediately start to spazz all over the place.  As I walk into the hall to get their leashes I notice that Winston and Dash don’t have their collars on.  I talk purposely loud to the dogs, asking them why Tonya had not put their collars on.  This happens a lot, talking to the dog in overt tones to ridicule your other half who made some stupid mistake.  Likewise, talking to the dogs in a loud tone to commend oneself is done quite often too.  To this day, they have never replied or never agreed.

The further down the street we got, the more it started to rain.  I don’t like walking in the rain, and it is obviously by how wily the dogs start acting, that they are not crazy about it either.  We get to the end of the street and we are starting to get pelted with those big, plump drops that are the size of grapes.  There are not loads of them yet, but each one douses you pretty good.  I tell Tonya we should turn back, before we get drenched.  She agrees.

We had only gone about 50 feet and I notice that it seems to have almost stopped.  I mutter out loud, from underneath my hood, “Wouldn’t you know it….as soon as we get a block up, it stops raining”.  We carry on though because I would feel even more stupid if we turned around and started back downhill again.   The situation changed drastically about two blocks from home.  The view ahead started to go fuzzy with a solid sheet of rain.  The dogs are already giddy and irritated because of this scenario, so when I prompt them to run, they are more than willing.  The faster we go and the closer we get the thicker and harder the rain falls.  By the time we reach the front gate, it is a monsoon style downpour.  Tonya and the guys head towards the door and I lock up the gate behind me.  By the time I get to the entryway, it is under a thin layer of water.  Tonya has gone into the house trying to get to the dogs before they get the furniture soaking wet.  I step inside trying not to slip and all I hear is her yelling at each of them in the den. “Something is wrong with Winston’s leg.  Come look at it…” she says.

I follow the small trail of water into the den and it splits three ways, onto the couches and cushy chairs.  Winston is rubbing himself on the furniture, while holding his hind leg up.  He’s slipping and sliding while the other dogs go from couch to couch, rubbing and jumping.  The towels we keep handy to dry the dogs are soaked and Tonya says she will run up and grab another towel.  I grab Winston and check his foot.  Tonya comes back and I rough Winston up with the new towel.  He likes being tossed around when he gets dried off.  I don’t notice anything wrong, and diagnose that he must have slid on the wet concrete and maybe pulled a muscle.  I then announce that I am going upstairs to put on some dry clothes.  Winston follows me up and immediately starts to dampen the bed as he starts rubbing himself all over the comforter.  Tonya follows up a few seconds later and we both slip into something dry.  As we stand there chatting, we both notice just how hard it is coming down. “This is crazy.  I think this is the hardest it has rained since we’ve been in Mexico” Tonya says.  “Is that hail?” she adds.

Tonya goes downstairs and I yell down to her, “We will have to check the driveway, to see if it is flooding!”  She answers back saying it may have already began to flood.  I walk into the study and look out the window. It looks like a wild stream below.  The water is flowing so rapidly it is foaming! “Hey!  You better take a look” I yell from the study.

I make my way down stairs and head straight to the door.  I was expecting the hallway to be underwater.  I walk carefully so as not to slip and reach for the door. 

Open the door today...ice!

I open the door and I immediately see smoke.  I look down and the water is about a hair away from coming into the house.  I stare at the huge swirling pool that was once a driveway.  It looks like someone had been playing too hard on a giant beanbag, and all those white foam BB sized balls are everywhere. Wait.  That pile of beanbag stuffing on the doorstep is not Styrofoam.  That frothy water is not froth after all.  That white mass swirling in the driveway and piled right at my feet is ice!  That is not smoke I saw either, but my breath.  The temperature had dropped drastically outside and it actually looks like it is snowing.

That ain't foam.

The temperature difference fogged the lens, ice is starting to pile in the back.

Now it is my turn to call Tonya to the door to gaze upon the wonders at our doorstep.  She is amazed.  I walk into the dining room.  All the windows in the house are fogged up.  I open one up to look in the backyard and Tonya comments on how thick and how much steam is going out of the house and my mouth.  The yard is white.  It is truly amazing to see the fine film of ice everywhere.  I walk back to the front door to check to see if we are flooding yet.  I open the door and laugh at the amount of condensation rising from breathing.  I look at the even larger pile of ice on the doorstep, then the now solid white driveway.  I think to myself about everyone at home.  Tomorrow they will celebrate July 4 and probably on the verge of melting.  I smile at the thought of unbearable temperatures at home, and it is only the start of July.  I look at the dense pile of fine hail on the doorstep and thank God that I am not there.  I have a pile of shaved ice on my doorstep and at home, they would be heaping piles of ice in their glasses to help cool down.  I’ll take my fine pile of ice in early July any day of the week! 

Happy Fourth y’all!