PORCH PONDERINGS

Hail? Yeah...

On Monday night I was traveling back from Musselshell, 20 miles east of Roundup. Musselshell used to be a little burg, a stop on the train line that went through this part of Montana. It had a hotel, churches. a school. a post office. Everything you need for a little tiny town. Now it's just a gathering of folks. But it still has a post office. About 40 serviced out of there. But some are ranches and farms 30 miles away. And the school is still there. And there is one little church still holding on.

I go to Musselshell for the Illustrious Musselshell Players - a community theater group. I've had the pleasure of acting with them for 6 years now. Once a year we produce a play, usually a comedy, for the county. Musselshell School is now maintained, lovingly, as a gathering spot. It has a real theater, a gymnasium and a kitchen worthy of a restaurant.

Anyway, Monday, we were on the way back to Roundup after play practice. The clouds gathered as we ran lines, did our blocking on stage. The sky in the west was a black as I've ever seen it. Then the electricity kept going on and off. So we decided, okay, time to go. I carpool to practice with 3 others. We headed down the road. About 15 miles from Roundup we got hit with a horrendous hail storm. Melissa, the driver of this big Lincoln Navigator, decided to pull off the road. Good decision. We sat for about a half hour as the hail rained down on us. Hail and rain. Buckets of both. Mercy sakes. But finally it eased up.

As we drove home, the water was amazing. On the road, on the fields, waterfalls from the hills into the fields, overflowing creeks. Even with that big heavy vehicle we hydroplaned all the way. Water had receded by the time we made it to Roundup proper.

But today I saw a photo from a friend. This is Main Street - near Rt 12 (where we traveled) , Conoco gas station and the IGA grocery store. Click on the image to get the full effect. We got 2 inches of rain in about 45 minutes.

IMAGE

Water in Roundup - Main Street  (E) July 28, 2025 #2344456 by QueenNormaJean Julyishereboom!

What a storm. It's been a crazy summer. The hills are still green on July 30. Unreal.