13 April 2012

Storm

Went to bed about 11, turned on the bed-light and started reading a magazine, as usual. Earlier in the evening, just as it was getting dark, I had gone outside and stood on the front porch to watch a few of ferocious rain and—what got me out there—some rare lightening and thunder. Was great and fairly nearby, though there were only a few "bolts" in five minutes or so, then the storm passed.

So I'm laying there in bed reading, see a flash out my bedroom window. It's a tall window, maybe four feet, but I have the venetian blinds drawn most of the way down, so only maybe a foot of clear view is possible.

So I jumped out of bed, pulled up the blinds, turned off the light, and laid there listening to the rain and looking out the now-full window. Got a couple great flashes, with booming, rolling, thunder, it was great. Frogs in the creek seem entirely unperturbed, oddly. Unexpected noises usually shut them for a few minutes, but they didn't mind the thunder at all, kept making their usual delightful racket.

And then, BAM! It happened. The count-to-almost-one lightening-thunder blast. It was maybe 1/2 second from flash to boom--and then the thunder was so loud and sharp that the house actually shook. Fantastic!



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PS1: For those of us who grew up and/or live in the Southwest, the mere presence of rain is a big deal. We don't get much of it, ever, and even mild storms, which generally happen in the Winter and Spring, are worth celebrating.


PS2: I've always liked storms more than most people do.


PS3: Lightening is rare along the West Coast; the constant temperature of the nearby ocean mitigates against the dramatic air-temperature contrasts that produce lightening.




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