Friday, May 29, 2009

Dark Stormy Night

We've had quite a few of those lately. As I write this it is lightning and thundering overhead. Rain is rain is rain, but a thunderstorm is completely different. The wind, the rolling rumble of thunder, the flashing and crashing of lightning. That's God's own light show.

When I was a kid about nine or ten years old, we lived outside the small town of Globe, Arizona. Our house was a cement block building that sat on a hillside. Further up the hill, a similar house sat on a lot that was level with our roof. Our yard on the other side fell away on a sharp drop-off so that our yard was above the roofs of the houses below us.

Arizona thunderstorms in the desert are abrupt and violent. One particular storm howled and crashed overhead while dumping an incredible amount of rain in a very short time. The water rolled down the hill like a series of waterfalls...so much water that it rolled through the house in an inexorable wave.

I remember my mom piling all of us kids on top of the bed and yelling over the growl of thunder for us to stay put. We huddled in the center of the bed with blankets and pillows piled all around us. And then, as suddenly as the storm arrived, it moved on leaving a ringing silence behind.

And the storm was over.

anny

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like a flash flood, Anny. THose are scary.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That sounds scary. I admit, I hate thunderstorms. As a kid, I saw lightning come in through the front door and hit the baby stroller sitting in the hallway. Thankfully, my little brother wasn't in it at the time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know what you mean, Anny. I grew up in Phoenix and I know about those storms. Monsoon season is amazing and terrifying at the same time. Violent thunder and lightning storms, and flash floods. To this day, when there's a storm, I find myself wanting to cuddle up somewhere and listen to it play out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thunderstorms are one of my favorite things about spring and summer. After a long, hot day everything quiets down as the thunderheads roll in. They bellow and echo off the mountains while lightning ricochets in the fields all around. You can feel the electricity in your gut, in your emotions. It's a beautiful thing.
    Jenny
    http://jenniferhudock.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, Arizona thunderstorms are quite violent. They do begin and end abruptly. I miss my Iowa thunderstorms. Slow build up of dark green clouds, the flash of lightning, the violent crash of thunder. Hail. Tornadoes. I do like weather.

    ReplyDelete