Several lightening strikes and then followed by the crack of the thunder shook us to the core this afternoon. We ran errands around town at noon and the air was stifling. Something was bound to give. The rain, when it came, came sideways for a time. There will be no need to add water to the Koi pond as it is running over onto the patio. Dennis has reported that son-in-law Tom will be needed with his chainsaw later on as the Maple lost a pretty good sized branch. We can be thankful that the clean up of smaller branches is very doable. Minnesota summers can give huge, large, noisy thunderstorms.