....stormy weather

Yogis,
About ten days before a vacation I start checking the weather forecast. Knowing full well it will change a few times over the next week, I want to at least get a sense of the general trend in temperatures and moisture. As we get close to departure, I am always happy to see a row of bright sun icons on the days ahead, yet if we spent a week in the Outer Banks of NC without at least one good storm, I would feel gipped.

This past week we had three.

Here is what typically happens. All 60 of us will be enjoying the day on the beach. Full camp set up with umbrellas, beach bags, coolers, chairs and bocci games in progress. Someone will notice the sky beginning to darken behind the dune but since we can’t really see what’s coming we continue on. Eventually the breeze picks up and a thick black cloud crests the dune and we have about eight minutes to take everything down and make a run for it.

A line forms at the base of the single set of about thirty steep steps that take you up and over the dunes. Everyone loaded like pack mules while the first drops begin to fall. A race against time as we finally reach the house, dropping the beach equipment and running in.

I’m not sure if it’s the combination of the high heat and humidity, the lack of tall trees, the ocean on one side with the sound on the other or all of the above, but the storms are fierce.

Because the sky is unobstructed, the views are amazing. Both the front and back edges of the storm are visible with tremendous cloud formations in multiple layers. The skies open up to sheets of rain which immediately create pools on the street. Then the wind arrives with all her might. You can feel the whole house sway. Heavy wood deck furniture which I certainly can’t lift, she has no problem moving about.

Next is the lightning and thunder. Vivid streaks of lightning light the sky as they draw zigzags from clouds to ocean. Flashes in the sky coming from every direction. Cracks of thunder which make you leap even when you know they are coming. Or those long deep rumblings that I feel in my belly. I remember being told when I was young that was God bowling.

Bring it on! I love it all! Mother Nature reminding us who is really in control lest we begin to take ourselves too seriously.

We watch the show from the screen porch or even from the hot tub tucked between two decks. And where storms at home are quick, there they linger. Appearing to be coming to a close, only to shoot an unexpected lightning bolt your way. My heart pounds.

When the calm arrives and the skies finally begin to clear, colors spill in to fill the gaps between the clouds. It takes my breath away. How can there be so much beauty?

Still wet and sandy from the day at the beach, it’s finally time to take a shower,
SARAH