Mother Nature: Pros and Cons

I was raised, much to my dad's chagrin, by two women (my mom and grandmother) who told me from a young age: "Outside ba-ba!" while shaking their heads. Translation: the outside is bad and dirty and yucky and why don't we just stay inside and play instead? (Hey- they were two chicks from Queens.)

So as a result, I am not a HUGE fan of outdoor activities but I guess my dad had enough of an influence to counteract the chicks. I do love camping and an occasional hike. If it's not too hot. And I have water. And take lots of breaks.

So we headed out last weekend with my dad and Dan and the girls for a little hike at a nearby state park. They have a beautiful trail called Indian Ladder Trail which goes underneath a huge bluff of rock where water has worn away a pathway and the "Indians" used it way back when. We packed a picnic lunch to enjoy at the end of the hike. The whole thing only took about an hour and really was very fun and very, very pretty. Here are some pictures from the day:

Contrast that peace and tranquility with what happened this weekend: a powerful storm ripped through our neighborhood and did this.

And this.

It was so exciting that the local news showed up while we were there gawking and interviewed the man who lived in the house.

The reporter, who we're familiar with on Newschannel 13, could not have been more pleasant and lovely. She introduced herself to Michaela and invited her to watch as they set up the camera and talked to the man from the house.

I thought of talking over with the reporter their new slogan ("NewsChannel 13... Covering and Uncovering your News") which drives me absolutely batty because it sort of sounds like you're making your bed and tucking your news inside the sheets and blankets... I get what they're trying to say, obviously, but it strikes me as somehow unparallel and as a daughter of a grammar teacher, unparallel sentence structure grinds on me like fingernails on a chalkboard.

But I refrained.