Possible Tornado Hits Campground at Cape Charles, Virginia

I'm used to high winds and thunderstorms, northeasters, hurricanes, and have, on occasion, seen a tornado from a distance.  A huge thunderstorm raced across the Chesapeake Bay this morning and hit Capes Charles, Virginia (on the Eastern Shore) at about 8:30 this morning.  The National Weather Service had posted a tornado warning for the area that ended at 9 a.m.  This storm had softball-sized hail, and, according to the Weather Channel reached more than 50,000 feet in height.  It hit the shore at Cherrystone Family Campground and RV Resort, near Cape Charles, in Northampton County with tremendous force.  Reports say that either two or three people were killed and more than 26 have been hospitalized in multiple hospitals in and near Norfolk, Newport News, and Richmond, Virginia.
   Camping trailers were overturned, and a lot of large pine trees had there boles snapped off at about 10 or 12 feet above the ground. Over 1300 people were staying at the campground last night.  Tents and other light-weight belongings were literally blown away.  Between 150 and 175 people lost their shelter, and are being bussed to a local school.  Searchers are criss-crossing the site, and a National Weather Service Storm team is headed there to survey the damage and decide if it was caused by a tornado or straight-force winds.

 Cherrystone Family Campground and RV Resort after a possible tornado this morning

Tall Ships at Cape Charles Virginia

The Tall Ships are at Cape Charles, Virginia through today, and I wish I was there.

One of the Tall Ships at Cape Charles

Two members of the Moody Crewe pirate reenactors

Pony rides and a petting zoo are available for the kids

Captain Lauren Morgens of the Kalmar Nyckel

Master Gunner Orion Couling of the privateer clipper Lynx explains the cannon to visitor

Beatrice called me yesterday and wanted to know if I knew about "the water problems" that the manager had gotten her out of bed for.  I told her no, but then JC knocked on the door - there was a clog and a back-up in the pipes for the bath tubs and toilets, and we weren't to use them (or any water) until further notice.  About that time, Wayne, my neighbor across the hall, started yelling - water was cascading from his bathroom throughout his apartment.  Then my toilet overflowed, and I suddenly had 6 inches of dirty water in the tub, too.  I had to clear everything out of the bathroom, and will have to wash the throw rugs today.  The problem began before 9 in the morning and wasn't cleared up until 3 yesterday afternoon - and about 8 of us had either a flooded bathroom, or a completely flooded apartment.  Yuck.

  

   Happy Fathers Day to everyone who acts as a Dad everywhere in the world!

Bits and Pieces

Having spent 21 nights away from home, I came back and found that my neighbor Nancy had not yet moved out.  Being a soft sucker, I joined her at 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning to assist her "in finishing" her move.  She stated that she had taken one load to the storage area, when I arrived and quirked an eyebrow, because I found an apartment filled to bursting.  She thought we could get moved out and the place clean by noon. She finished sometime after 9 p.m. Thursday night, and that was with 24 hours of my assistance.  Just as a sample, the first thing I was delegated to doing was "cleaning out" the three top left drawers of her dresser.  I put various oddments - earphone, earbuds, loose wires to assorted things and boxes of incense in a box; I put herbal teas into a bag; and I filled two 20 gallon trash bags with grocery receipts, used nose tissue paper, and dried up make-up, plus food and candy so old that I wasn't sure what it was....  You get the idea, I'm sure....
  This morning, as I headed out for my morning bagel, I was locking my door as I heard banging on Britta's apartment door - which has been empty for 10 days.  I looked, and there was a nerdy-looking young man, and he had Boulder, Britta's "service dog," on a rope leash.  I told him that no one lived there - the place was empty.  He wanted to know where Britta was, and I told him I didn't know.  Then he wanted to know who owned Boulder, and I told him that I thought that Britta did.  He told me he'd wait in the hall for Britta to show up, and I told him that Britta had been evicted and he was amazed...  He wasn't here when I returned with  my breakfast.
   Intense Holiday, the good-looking seal brown son of Harlan's Holiday, was put down yesterday.  He raced in the Kentucky Derby, but did not participate in the other Triple Crown races.  He suffered a condylar fracture during a workout, and had surgery done by Dr Larry Bramlage.  Unfortunately, the colt came down with laminitis this week, and after his pedal bone had twisted in his hoof, it was decided to put him to sleep.
   Commissioner, the son of A.P. Indy, who ran second in the Belmont Stakes came out of the race with a chipped fetlock bone.  He underwent corrective surgery yesterday.
   Steve Coburn, the co-owner of California Chrome, apologized to all and sundry on Monday, 9 June, regarding his tirade about Chrome's loss in the Belmont Stakes.  He stated that he was completely ashamed of himself, and that it was poor sportsmanship to have made those remarks.  He did so in the heat of the moment, and he asked for forgiveness for denigrating the Triple Crown championship.  He was pretty convincing.

   If you're on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, or around Norfolk, this weekend, please visit the Tall Ships at Cape Charles on Saturday and Sunday - the festival is well worth the journey, and you can sail on the ships.  See:   http://www.tallshipscapecharles.com/