Temperature remained in the 60's all night......was 64 when I got up at 6 AM.  I was in the garden with my hoe, trowel, tomato/vegetable fertilizer, and tomato plants by 7:30.  Forecast was for thunderstorms off and on today and I wanted to get a start on the tomato plants.  Radar showed a line of storms out near Cleveland, TN so that gave me a good hour to set and stake the plants.  So far six plants are staked and three will use a fence support.  I tried a new method I read about in the NC Extension booklet.  Trenching the tomatoes allows for more roots to develop and a stronger plant to support the heavy fruit.  Around 9 o'clock I put tools away and returned to the house when thunder rumbled in the distance.  I don't have much luck around thunderstorms as I seem to be a magnet.  My brush with lightning 21 years ago is still vivid in my mind.  The sky became as dark as if it were 9 PM.  The gentle rain arrived and I stood on the back covered porch thanking God for the rain on the newly set tomatoes when the sound on the roof changed drastically from pouring liquid to a dense pounding. 

A storm cell had developed right over us pelting us with hail, some quarter size.  Power flickered, lightning flashed, and I stood watching the hail bounce off the trucks and porch while images of newly set tomatoes down in the garden helplessly waited for the storm to pass.  Thinking back now, I should have recognized the signs of an impending storm.  No birds, squirrels, not even the 50 pound ravens scavenged the grounds for seed or insects early this morning.  Then as the worst of the storm passed, the woods became alive with song and chattering, birds visiting the feeders and hopping around the forest floor.