Stunning photo shows a man casually mowing his lawn as tornado looms

The lawns were on his to-do list, so Theunis Wessels was going to get them done - no matter what. Photo / Facebook

Had it been a painting, the artist could've been criticised for failing to imagine a more nuanced metaphor to capture the perils of suburban existence.

"Go back to your canvas," the instructor might say. "This garbage is too literal!"

Indeed, the image is that wonderfully preposterous looking.

Fortunately, our imaginary artist doesn't exist, but Theunis Wessels of Three Hills, Canada - a town of just over 3000 souls located in the southern part of the province of Alberta - certainly does.

At some point, Cecilia Wessels went outside an snapped a several photos while her husband continued to mow the lawn. Photo / Cecilia Wessels Facebook

So does his wife, Cecilia, who had the presence of mind to snap a picture of her - daring? bold? reckless? foolhardy? (You be the judge) - husband on Friday as he mowed the lawn near a swirling tornado descending from an ominous sky.

"My beast mowing the lawn with a breeze in his hair," Wessels captioned the photo on Facebook in what may be the most epic understatement of all time.

"Omg!!!" a Facebook user replied.

Wessels told the Canadian Press that mowing the lawn was on her husband's to-do list. While her husband did his chores, Wessels decided to take a nap. She told the Press that when her daughter woke her up a short time later, the 9-year-old was upset. There was something in the sky that resembled a tornado, the little girl said, but her father was refusing to come inside.

At some point, Cecilia Wessels went outside an snapped a several photos while her husband continued to mow the lawn.

"It looks much closer if you look in the photo, but it was really far away," he told the Canadian Press. "Well, not really far, far away, but it was far away from us."

"I was keeping an eye on it," he added.

Well, in that case ...

Video and photos of the massive twister captures the storm's massive size as it passes near a roadway on which vehicles continue to drive. The CBC reported that no reports of injuries have emerged in the wake of the twister, "although some other photos show downed trees and a barn with its roof ripped off". Most of the damage, the CBC reported, was on rural properties.

My mom just sent me these photos, the view from her place in #ThreeHills right now! #abstorm @hbthreehills pic.twitter.com/2l3jC4fP02

— Bobbi, Beer Brewer tryna-be. (@RealTurkeyLady) June 2, 2017

Most tornadoes move at an average of nearly 50km/h but can go more than 110km/h, according to Weather Underground. The tornado near Three Hills was clocked moving east at 80km/h.

Witnesses who spoke to the CBC said it was the first time they had seen a tornado in the area.

"It's very shocking, especially when it's so close to your house," Don Wolff said. "I'm still shaking, as I think half the town is, actually."

"At first I thought there was a fire because it looked like a whole bunch of smoke. It started in the fields, and the dirt was just getting taken up, and we watched it get bigger and bigger and go across the highway," Calgary resident Trina Luoma told the CBC.

"I know they can be dangerous, but it was beautiful at the same time," Luoma said.