rumblings from the sky.......

I don't know about you, but I love to watch thunderstorms ......from the safety of my porch, of course. If I didn't have to worry about being struck, I'd stand out in the middle of a field to watch them.

Hubby and I had the opportunity to pull up front-row seats to a storm that passed through this past weekend. We opened up the garage door, set up comfy chairs, a couple of tea cocktails, and waited for the show to begin. We were not disappointed in the entertainment or antics of the many bolts that came close. A few times we inched back further into the garage because the sound was deafening, and the flash of light (followed by counting to ten) was revealed that the lightening was indeed closer than we thought. The electricity flickered a few times, until it went out completely. There went the air conditioning inside the house..... but at least the outside air had cooled down to a comfortable 80 degrees, compared to the 97 degrees it was just minutes before.

Every night this past week, and several before that, the sky has rumbled and rocked. It hasn't always produced rain as I wished, but I live in a weather void area.....which means it might rain at my neighbors house, while I have full sunshine. I've always wondered about the line of demarcation when it came to storms. What is the actual point where bad weather stops, and good weather starts? I have finally found that spot in my state; it's somewhere near my yard. Strange, but true. I have driven home in a blinding rainstorm, only to get to my street where the birds are chirping, and the squirrels are frolicking about to gather nuts in the gracious sunshine..... not a care in the world to the impending onslaught that may or may not happen.

Maybe they know something I don't, or maybe they are like me. I've gotten to the point where I don't have too much trust in the weather report unless I'm watching it first hand from my window. Yes, it's nice to know about tornados heading my way, and I am grateful to the weathermen who let us know when to evacuate to the basement.... but for the little stuff, I part the curtains. Somehow the map they have is a bit inaccurate to the landscape I'm familiar with. Well, at least it's that way when I watch the Weather Channel. Local news is a better indicator..... they know street names and neighborhoods I can identify.

Yet, hubby is a Weather Channel-watching fool. He could watch it for hours. I like the Storm Stories they have on from time to time, and it's peaked my interest to do one of those dare-devil storm-tracker vacations..... but otherwise, I'd rather snap in a good movie, and wait for the real thing to dominate the sky. That could be a little dangerous, as tornados have popped up out of relatively small storms, but living in that weather-void area, they seem to tumble all around me, not on me. I did have a close call when my son was little. A huge bolt came down and hit the neighbors yard behind me, and traveled in their house via their outside light system. It fried every piece of electronics that was plugged in. I watched it unfold before my eyes, as I just happened to be looking out the window at the precise moment the bolt struck the ground. It was a bit scary, but I'm on a different electricity system than they are, and it never affected me. You see, my house and yard is the line between my little hamlet and the next town north. My back fence is the town line..... another reason for my silly theory about weather-void.

Tonight was no different. The sky has been rumbling for a few hours. We did get enough rain so that I won't have to sneak out and water the poor thirsty gardens, but so much damage has been done by the heat and sun already. My grass is hanging in as best as it can; I've been afraid to take the mower to it, lest I stress out the roots more. The flowers still get all the attention, so they are doing well, but it is a struggle to keep them happy. Most of the beds contain impatiens which are colorful, lovely, and proven growers. The only problem is, they are thirsty buggers, and demand gallons of water on a daily basis.... sometimes twice a day. So when the skies open up, I am grateful to the rain Gods, that I have been spared another chore for the day.

What's that I hear..... more droplets coming down..... ahhh! If this keeps up, I won't have to break any water banning laws for another day or so. Great! Now I can snap in the new Batman movie I've been dying to watch!