Shopping With Marley

Marley loves to go everywhere with me and I like taking him. He sits in the back seat looking out the window (he has his own seat belt harness, which he manages to wriggle out of when I go inside), When I come back out from shopping, he is usually sitting in the driver's seat patiently waiting for me. Sometimes I even have a treat for him if I have been dining. He likes toast a lot. So do I!

Last Friday after spending several days at home because of storm watches and warnings and the roofers blocking me in my driveway, I decided I HAD to use my 50% off coupon at Micheal's. I knew exactly what I wanted. So even after another storm watch was issued, and looking at radar and seeing nothing to worry about, I left. Jackson was left outside to chase the squirrels (he is obsessive compulsive about that). I wasn't gonna be gone long anyways. So Marley and I set off.

I even stopped for a tea at Speedway and got the mail. The sun was shining too. I left the windows cracked on my car (it was mid 80's) and I went inside Micheal's. The item I wanted was already on sale-phooey! I poked around a bit and found something else I thought I might never want-but after reading the package, I did. The Cropidile II. Half off ladies and only 20 bucks! Happy as a clam and armed with my tool and some dollar stamps (I am missing October and December), I went outside. It had started to cloud up.

Looking north toward my house 8 miles away.
Getting a bit more of the wide shot-but no rain yet.
A close up on the clouds-mind you to the south, the sun was still peaking out.

The rain starts to come down toward the south but dry where I am.
I just like these colors and am gonna try stamping landscapes or skyscapes on them.

It starts to get much darker to the south and I am thinking of leaving. I call hubby who is on I75 at the Oakland/Genesee County line and he says it's sunny yet and nothing going on, so he tells me to stay put and we will get dinner. I remind him I have the dog with me.

I keep snapping away and people walk in front of me. I am using hubby's small pocket digital as it fits in the same pocket with my Flip Video camera and we had used them both the day before and later at the art festival. It's just annoying sometimes to carry around a fully lensed-up D-SLR. So this works.

I feel rain drops finally and turn to climb back into my little Aveo ( I am parked north but photographing south) and oh shit! Look what is to the north!!

Wall cloud!
Wind!
Rotation!

I just stood there mesmerized! No sirens. No frantic movements by anyone. In fact, some stopped and watched me snap away. They said they paid no attention until they saw me photographing and then made a dash for the store. I wanted to dash too but if I left and drove north, I would have run right into this. I had Marley and surely the store would not have let us in-I had no leash for one. Marley was spazzing in the car-he hates the noises of storms just like me.

Then the rain started and I could not see out the window and certainly could not have driven with the rain intensity like this. So I waited and trembled and wondered what county or country my final resting place would be. At least I wasn't alone-my Marley was with me. It started to eventually let up but I spoke with hubby and he said wait instead of driving. No warning sirens ever went off for my location but they did in the Clio area and into Tuscola county where there was a touch down.

As the rain abated, I tried to amuse myself. I took photos of my shoes, my junk mail on the floor and Marley's hanging out tongue. Then I took the above photo. Sorta interesting but a bit cluttered. So I used the zoom which to me is just unstable at times. And I got this one below. I didn't know what I actually had until I downloaded the photo just a few minutes ago. I took only one. I just think this one is perfect. No photo shopping. Not cluttered. A lot of textures. And lonely.

This one is the keeper.