It is Time, for Stormy Weather

Lightning storms are very rare here in Eugene. But around about 8 tonight, the clouds were looking very stormy.

The wind had picked up so as to be noticeably gale-ish.

Our Mac’s Weather Widget is not the most reliable device. (Not it’s fault… AccuWeather is the culprit.) When we see the lightning symbol it’s usually wishful thinking.

But tonight I heard thunder rumbling and the folks out on the softball field were squealing on the way to their cars to get out of the Weather With A Capital W! I ran out onto our front balcony just in time to see the brightest, hugest, PINKEST lightning bolt I’ve ever seen. It faded into a trail of sparks. Totally awesome!!!

I was standing out there in hopes of catching a few more (and I did) and I was thinking about memories of past thunder-and-lightning storms. I haven’t really experienced that many, not having lived in stormy lands… One summer I visited my cousins in Tennessee and witnessed a few of their summer storms. One time we witnessed a real hum-dinger from our front porch in SJ. But the ones that I remember most clearly don’t involve lightning – but thunder most intense – in Yosemite Valley, huddled in my dome tent with my sister and listening to giant metal trash cans being thrown off of Glacier Point and echoing through the valley. Very alarming, but very cool.