Above the trees, a silver lining
This morning I awoke to a tinny sort of plink-plink sound, and realized that the fog had given way to hail clouds. As I lay there listening, the light hail rapidly morphed into a massive hail downpour to rival all hail downpours that I have ever seen!
Seemingly endless flashes of lightening illuminated the dark sky followed by thunderous booms and ripples of crack-crackling.
With the storm all around the house, I quietly listened while keenly aware of how blessed I am to be in a cozy little cottage with the rager pouring its heart out beyond the windows.
At the same, I desperately fought my urge to go running out into the middle of it to raise my arms up into the fury and dance around in the storm. (Somehow, making myself the tallest point in the middle of a grassy field during a lightening storm didn't seem the most intelligent choice.)
Slowly the happy cloud party drifted away (under fervent protest), and the sky broke for the sunrise. As blue sky peeked through the trees, I popped out with my camera and caught this image for you. How’s that for a silver lining?
Then I scurried back inside: the storm decided to come back, and it kept me company all morning long.
Tomorrow I will reveal the identity for one of our recent mystery trees!
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I tried to leave comments yesterday but Blogger was having none of it...
ReplyDeleteI love a good storm. The lighting storms were one of the few things in Arizona that I miss. Except for the fluke storm that dropped raquet ball-sized hailstones. Those aren't good for auto bodies, roofs, pets, or anyone really.
LilyB, Blogger was being totally uncooperative yesterday! I couldn't post all day long. Did you ever watch Almost Live, and see the buttrockers exclaiming "LUH-AAAAME!"?
ReplyDeleteI've heard stories and read about the really dangerous hailstorms, and although I admit to a morbid curiosity of wanting to see for myself how not just one but a whole possee of ice chunks that large could fall from the sky, I agree that they are undoubtedly rather dangerous, and likely not nearly as cool as they sound.
The best lightening shows I've ever seen were in Washington and Belize respectively. Back in '99, I remember one night during which I saw lightening the likes of which I'd never seen before... and it went on for HOURS! It was this crazy chicken-feet looking lightening that crawled along the bottoms of the clouds in purple-silver waves.
The stuff in Belize went on for many nights in a row over the course of a few weeks. Night after night it would roll in with wind and rain that would rattle the cabana and illuminate the sky and the sea with impressive force. It was a great excuse to stay up and enjoy the warm nights from the porch - even better with the moon peeking through the clouds at crazy intervals!!
FrankenGirl, thanks! I just love a good storm, and it's so hard the resist the urge to go play in them. Have you ever read the piece by John Muir wherein he describes riding out a storm in the top of a tree? How totally badass is that!? Here, you can read it at the Sierra Club website:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/frameindex.html?http://www.sierraclub.org/John_Muir_Exhibit/writings/the_mountains_of_california/chapter_10.html
In case that link doesn't work, go to SierraClub.org, visit the John Muir Exhibit, and look for "Chapter 10
ReplyDeleteA Wind-storm in the Forests"
Fantastique, cette photo est merveilleuse.
ReplyDeleteA@+
I had completely forgotten about Almost Live! Oh, man.
ReplyDeleteThe lightning in Arizona was often "dry." It would build up on the foothills around the valley we lived in, so we'd have a 360° lightning storm around us and clear skies above. It was eerie watching it crawl around the bottoms of the clouds before finally striking down.
The hail was much like I would imagine the results of an entire baseball team pounding on your car with their bats would be. Very loud and destructive. Thank God for good insurance. :)