Sunday, August 19, 2012

Waking up with a pre-dawn thunderstorm.

About an hour ago, I woke up to the rumbling of a pretty good sized thunderstorm getting ready to roll through my area. I don't know why, but I have always loved storms. Even when I was a little kid, my mom had to resort to threats to get me to come in from the yard when one passed over our neighborhood. When I was 13, Hurricane Alicia blew through the Houston area and like the damn fool that I am, I was out in the front yard during the worst of it, standing with my arms out to the side, leaning into the strong winds, and feeling the rain stinging my face. My parents were on the front porch hollering at me to come inside, but I was just standing there, overwhelmed and overjoyed by the brute force of Nature. While I was out there, the wind literally wrenched the big "Y" shaped tree in the front yard apart, sending one half crashing down into the street, and the other half crashing down across from me. I still wouldn't come in, and it took a threat of being completely grounded for the last couple of weeks of Summer vacation to get me to move.

This morning's storm was just a garden variety Texas thunderstorm. Lots of lightning, thunder, and rain. At the house we live in, there is a deep covered front porch and a nice big bench to sit on up against the wall, where the rain can't reach. I like to sit out there and watch storms whenever I can. The one this morning did not disappoint. Lots of lightning, some of it branching, and even one bolt that flashed crosswise across the sky in front of me. Along with thunder, enough wind to set the wind chimes chiming, and a good amount of rain. Which I'm grateful for, the garden and trees needed it. It only lasted about a half-hour then turned into a gentle rain. Once the show was over, I walked out to the porch railing, reached out to collect rainwater in my hands, and washed my face with it. It felt good, and was the perfect start to the day.

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