Wild Storm Chase, Burlington, Vermont, 7/4/12

The Fourth of July in Vermont had some fireworks that no pyrotechnic company could beat.

Incredibly intense thunderstorms roared down from southern Canada, and as alwasy, I set about storm chasing as the weather developed.  I always have to collect more weather porn, don't you know.  And belatedly on the Fourth, I got some real money shots from the weather.

Burlington Free Press phototgrapher Glenn Russell
documents flooding in downtown Burlington
after a wild July 4 storm.

At midafternoon, one complex of storms formed just north of the Canadian border, a little above northwestern Vermont. It appeared the storms were heading right toward my St. Albans, Vermont house, so all I had to do is sit and wait with my camera and intercept them.

Nope. They storms veered to the east, despite the dire severe storm warnings for St. Albans. I couldn't catch up with the storms as they headed toward Danville, Vermont, in the northeastern part of the state.

I had to give up the chase.

The area around famed Joe's Pond in Danville was hammered with fallen trees, overturned boats and lots of damage.

I thought I missed all the storms, until I saw on radar that another complex formed northwest of Montreal.

I wondered it the storm would hold together, and boy did it ever. It formed a "bow echo" on radar a backward "C' shape that portended trouble.

Flooding on South Union Street in Burlington after
a very severe thunderstorm on July 4. 

This one kept further west than I thought.  As I raced south to intercept it as I saw going by to my west, the storm raced south over Lake Champlain, finally making a beeline toward Burlington, Vermont.

Burlington got hammered with 60 to 70 mph wind gusts that knocked down lots of trees. Even worse was the incredible amount of rain that fell in a short period of time. Lots of streets flooded, as did cars, business and homes.

Sadly, a building that takes in homeless people during the day for meals and help got trashed by the flooding, according to the Burlington Free Press. 

Here's the film of the storm I took on Burlington's Riverside Avenue. This wasn't taken through a fogged up window. The visibility was really that bad, it was raining so hard:

Bailey The Dog Moves In With Us

Funny how families can change dramatically at the drop of a hat.

Like ours, for instance.

Bailey, the latest addition to the
Modereger/Sutkoski family. 

It's now a two-dog, two person household here in St. Albans with the arrival of Bailey, a dog of indeterminate breeds and high levels of sweetness. (His name until Tuesday was "Baileys" but Jeff and I decided to drop the "s")

We'd vaguely discussed getting another dog at some point, but had no firm plans.

Barb, the woman who runs the excellent Deja Vu Kennel in Milton, Vermont  where we take Jackson, our very active cocker spaniel, was worried about a dog she was taking care of.

The dog's name was Baileys, because his fur is the same color as Bailey's Irish Cream.

Baileys' family had fallen on hard times, from what I heard, third hand.  They had to move to a place that wouldn't accept dogs. Their future together was uncertain. Barb was looking for a foster family to take Baileys in temporarily. Would Jeff and I be interested?

Jeff and I discussed it Monday night, and decided we would tell Barb on Tuesday that we were leaning toward become Bailey's foster family, but we'd have to think about it for a few days.

Tuesday morning, I brought Jackson to  Deja Vu Kennel,  like we usually do. Barb introduced me to Baileys.  I noticed immediately how sweet and affectionate he is.

Then she told me Bailey's family abruptly got an opportunity out of town. They couldn't take Baileys, and had to give him up. That day. The family said they would bring Baileys to the Humane Society of  Chittenden County  and hope for the best.

Now, the Humane Society does an excellent job. But Bailey just turned 12 year old. He might not be that adoptable. He could be euthanized there.

I know I can't save every dog out there. I can't turn into a hoarder. I can only take care of the people and the animals that I can manage. Doing more would be unfair to me and especially the dogs and people I try to aid.  Sombody else will have to do the rest. Cold as that sounds, that's just the way it is.

But I'd already made a connection with Bailey. And he with me. He looked me in the eye when we met  briefly Tuesday morning and we formed an attachment. I know Bailey didn't know what was going on, but it almost feels like he looked at me and said, "You're my last chance, bro."

I could manage two dogs in the house, and so could Jeff.

Jeff was at work. I called him and told him the situation. "I couldn't live with myself if we let him go," I found myself blurting out. I found my eyes getting wetter.

Jeff wanted him too. Our family's fate was sealed. Bailey is now a full standing member of the Modereger/Sutkoski/ household.  I feel like the Brady Bunch theme song should be playing right now.

It'll be hard at times, but Jeff and I have the wherewithal to take care of Bailey. We'll give him an imperfect, but good home. He'll be loved. Jackson will make sure he has a fun playmate.

Jackson has some jealousy issues, but I know that will work out. Both Jackson and Bailey crave individual attention. Both dogs will realize soon enough that there's plenty of love to go around at this house.

Despite the jealousy, Jackson and Bailey do play well together.

Bailey looks and acts younger than his 12 years. He's mellow. Incredibly affectionate. He already likes to curl up under my desk as I type away at my laptop.  I know that given his age, Bailey won't be with us for too many years. That makes me sad, but I'll just enjoy the time we have together and focus on that.

Right now, as I type this, he's at my feet, listening to the clatter of this keyboard as I sit on the couch pounding away at the laptop.  He looks at me every once in awhile to see that I'm OK, and that I think he's OK. We agree everything is fine and go back to what we're doing. Jackson's asleep, curled up against my side, looking blissful.

Jeff had to go to work for a few hours and he'll be home soon. The four of us will go outside and play around the yard. A happy, suddenly bigger family.

Don't Be Stupid With Fireworks

Breaking News: It's the Fourth of July, time for among other things fireworks.  If you want to play with toys, try water balloons, Frisbees, bubbles, whatever, not fireworks.

Don't be a dufus like these people with fireworks.

Making You Feel Good About People

Here's a video from Buzzfeed  to watch after watching the news. The news always has disasters, people acting horribly, crime, hypocricy, meanness, and stupidity.

The news also has people acting nobly, and the video takes incidents that appeared in various news outlets of people acting like, well, humans. It's a good video to put in your file when you need cheering up. I especially like the animal rescues:

No Cell Reception? Trash the Cell Phone Store!

We all have love/hate relationships with our mobile devices. Gawd, they're convenient. How did we live without them in the bad old days? You'd have to wait to get home to see if you got any phone messages.

We didn't even have email, instant messaging and Twitter. How in the world did we get along without knowing what everybody was doing the instant they were doing it.  I mean, it's positively medieval not knowing that a distant friend is about to go to a sushi bar for lunch, or not having up to the minute updates on the exploits of Lindsay Lohan.

Our hero in the midst of destroying a T-Mobile store.

On the negative side, these devices sure are frustrating. You want to check your smart phone to see whether any new cat antic videos have been uploaded within the past five minutes, and you can't get reception! Or it loads too slowly!

Sometimes the exasperation with smart phones boils over. Which is apparently what happened in Manchester, England recently, when a man who has HAD IT trashed a T-Mobile store. He's so calm about it as the video below shows. And wait until the end. He is so polite, so pleasant with the police. I'm not kidding.

The Daily Mail says the man, Jason Codner, 42, was upset because T-mobile wouldn't give him a refund. 

And I'm sure it's worth a stint in jail to demonstrate you are not happy with your T-Mobile service.

 I'm sure he feels better now. And if he gets a better phone, he can upload his new viral video:

Jackson The Dog's Sunny Sunday

The weather was sunny and a little cooler Sunday up here in St. Albans Vermont, perfect for a black dog like Jackson who doesn't like the hot weather and isn't keen on playing in water or with lawn sprinklers, either.

Jackson spent Sunday evening leading a dog's good life, as this photo series shows: (Click on the pics to embiggen them)

Ahh, the good life out on the deck

OK, I'll pose for a portrait, but make it quick!

Oh! Daddy Jeff has pizza. He's GOT to give me some!

Hey, Daddy Matt! Tell Jeff to give me his pizza!

No?! Well, screw you then!

The Worst People in Colorado Springs Fire Zone

Today's nominees for the worst people in the world, never mind just in Colorado Springs, are Belinda Yates, 38 and Shane Garrett, 36.

This lovely couple decided that it would be fun to burglarize houses that didn't burn in the evacuated Waldo Canyon section of Colorado Springs, where that big fire was, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

It's bad enough to burglarize a house, but to steal from an evacuated house, whose owners are probably already traumatized by the fire, is beyond bad. This little couple deserve a special place in hell.

The Gazette said the two were caught with meth, so it looks as if drug addiction might have been a factor.

So, what nonviolent punishment do you suggest for our buddies Belinda and Shane? Creative ideas welcome.