hail

I biked to the pool yesterday with some peeps from youth and English Club. It was sunny and perfect pool weather from 10a to 3p…and then we saw some clouds start to come over the mountains. Most of the peeps left while I stayed to wait for 2 girls to change their clothes…which, in seeing thunderclouds and such overhead, didn’t make me too happy.

As we started biking, it started raining – big drops a-fallin’ on our heads. Then it started hailing. We were riding by fields but finally found an empty shell of a house. We ran in just as the hail got significantly bigger. It went from peas to marbles – from marbles to grapes – from grapes to golf balls. I’m not exaggerating, and I have never seen or experienced anything like it. In parts of Gjilan, it apparently was even worse. There were some hail stones the size of oranges and grapefruits. Many, many car windshields were busted, and many, many roofs were damaged. Nearly every house in my neighborhood has roof damage. All outdoor furniture is kaput, and the fruit trees and gardens are a real mess.

Our house, thankfully, was okay with only a few busted tiles. The main hole was in a storage closet, and all of the water went into a kiddie pool (!?). I left a tiny window open in the bathroom, and there were leaves and dirt and branches all over the place with about 2 cm of water on the floor. On the other side of the house, I left a square meter window completely open, and there wasn’t any water inside. Crazy.

Back to our bike ride: After waiting 15 minutes in decent shelter, I thought it was good if we started again...seeing that we still had 30 minutes to go. The hail was almost done, and the rain was steady but not too intense. We wrapped our towels around our heads and shoulders and took off. We biked through puddles-turned-streams that were 8+ inches deep, through globs of mud, through hail slides, etc. When cars drove around us, we were splashed to our shoulders. We yelped and hooted and, I thought, had a blast. The one girl started reciting Philippians 4.4-9, and we said it over and over until we calmed down. The rain kept pouring, and we kept peddling. The thunder and lightning was impressive, and I knew I could get fired for insisting that we bike in so much rain. After an exciting bolt of lightning with wondrous thunder, I started singing (in shqip) Lord of all Creation - Of water, earth, and sky, the heavens are Your tabernacle - glory to the Lord on high…the universe declares Your majesty, You are holy, holy! We sang a few more songs and got pretty tuckered out…and I thought it was awesome and the most fun I had all week.

Today – now it’s cleanup time. I’m going to a few peoples’ homes to help pick up the gardens and gather broken roof pieces. I'll listen to peoples' stories and perhaps tell a few of my own. Although I did rather enjoy myself a little too much, I recognize that damaged fields and trees and homes and cars is a big deal to people here who don't have insurance or savings or a fall-back plan. Yep - it’s one of those experiences that we’ll be telling our grandkids in 50 years.

I hope to attach pictures soon.