While winter’s grasp may be loosening, little by little, spring’s embrace has been hesitant. Fitful. Fraught. Yesterday’s hot tub cover liftoff reminds me that seasonal shift is sometimes subtle and slow, sometimes sudden and violent.
Tony alerted me upon arriving yesterday that the explosive windstorm overnight had wrested our 8×8 cover (weighing a not insignificant 25-30 pounds, by my estimate) from atop the hot tub and deposited it a good 15’ feet away.
In addition to straps, the cover is secured — especially during periods of inclement, unpredictable weather — to the hot tub with a sturdy tie down system anchored to the ground.
Only this time the tie down tether was not securing the covering. Not certain why, but apparently an inadvertent oversight. And the sudden weather burst, sensing vulnerability, struck out.
I can imagine the howling wind swirling, gathering intensity, thrashing tree limbs as gusts gathered strength, whipped sheets of rain against the garapa deck and icehouse.
Then a gale so furious, a surge so severe that one of the cover’s straps failed. The nearest corner lifted slightly, then settled. Lifted again, then vibrated violently against the top edge of the hot tub, belching small puffs of steam from the hot water within.
Suddenly catching the full force of the angry tempest, the remaining straps all failed and the tub top was untethered, lifted like a kite, straight up into the storm, where it cartwheeled violently then hovered for a moment mid-flight eight to ten feet above the ground. Stalling then succumbing to gravity, the cover collapsed onto the wet ground, splayed across cobblestone courtyard, flowerbed, and lawn.
Nature’s tantrum has once again offered us a timely (if melodramatic) reminder that seasonal transitions — no matter how welcome, how revitalizing, how beguiling — belie the potential for sudden, breathtaking change. Fortunately, aside from a toppled but easily repaired landscape light, no enduring damage commemorates this reminder.
Thank you, Tony, for identifying and resolving this mishap!
What do you think?