Talk Thursday – Thunder Rolls

The Floydian Slips concert was just winding down Saturday night, when I caught the first flashes from the corner of my eye. Ducky had just commented on the drive into town that it looked like a thunder night. Apparently, his personal Doppler system was working fine. As we drove out of the parking lot the flashes to the north were more visible and picking up frequency, soon bolts of lightening raced across the darkness.

We are all up for a good electrical storm. Hey, I live in Florence lightning storms are far and few between, so this was a treat. Brilliant forks split the sky, diving downward, to seemingly impale itself into the distant ground and then the thunder would peel. It would start with a crack, nano seconds after the flash faded into the dark, and roll from one cloud to the next, as if filling each sound before moving on to the next. A symphony of bowling Angels battling Thor’s tympani booming bass a clash of in rolling waves of sound that burbled against my skin and through the night.

I love thunder, heaven’s music, this would have been the type of night that I would sit out and listen with my eyes close and feel the thunder rumble though the night. Our joy thought was short lived for as we drove west towards home the thunder was too far away, the flashes dimmer and distant, then all was dark and quiet again.

Until two o’clock in the morning. When the sky cracked open with lightning and the force of the thunder shook the house. Nirvana. Ducky and I got up and watched the light show for its short duration and then went back to bed.

A feeling of impending thunder lasted through out Sunday. The much needed rain had been absorbed by the thirsty ground and for the first time this summer my lawn looked sated. I began seeing flashes around eight in the evening, at first I thought it was just my eyes, then from the deck Ducky ask if I could hear the thunder? The flashes were small, the thunder distant, but it lasted the entire evening.

Until two o’clock in the morning when with one brilliant flash and a deafening ka-boom the lights went out. And then back on and I went to work. Power outages play havoc with small radio stations, so when the power comes back on I have to go reset the equipment – my computer screens freeze up, on air boards are all out of whack. At two in the morning, dressed in my jammies and slippers, I waddle out to my truck, drive the mile to work, reset my equipment, drive home, and go back to bed.

Until three thirty when it starts all over gain. Ducky leaves for work around four fifteen, so I’m thinking the next time I had to go to work was four thirty. Do people really get REM sleep? And did I mention I love thunder and lightning? And why do they say thunder and lightning when clearly the lightning comes first?

The national weather service had been issuing Severe Thunder Warnings for much of the early morning hours the EAS automatically sends the audio out over the air when we’re in walk away mode. Later Monday afternoon, NWS sent out one last Severe Thunder Warning over the EAS. I’m still laughing, following the usual warnings of impending doom the broadcaster ended with, “If you can hear the thunder you’re close enough to be struck by lightning.
Which begs me to ask, “If you hear the thunder isn’t it too late to worry about the lightning? And would you hear the thunder if you were stuck by lightning for all the ringing in your ears?

Just askin’.
Sith,
Cele