Message #13019 From HEN3RY

Two of the things I miss most in California are thunderstorms . . .

. . . and snow. In the Rockies, where I was born and raised, late July and August could be counted on for thunderstorms about every other afternoon. Although there was a bad year or two -- 1965 the worst in recent memory -- and farmers often lost their wheat or barley before they could get it out of the field, those afternoon storms created magic evenings, especially if you were young and male and immortal.

Later, in Illinois, I came to fear those thunderstorms, because sometimes they gave birth to tornadoes (sp?). One August afternoon in 1967 I was talking to my wife as she was hanging the clothes in the back yard. It was about 95, humidity seemed about the same, not a breath of wind. Then, a gentle breeze came up without warning and the temperature dropped 15 degrees. Instantly. We immediately went in and turned on the radio (wouldn't have known to do that before we lived in Tornado Alley) and, sure enough, tornado watch for central Illinois. But they went north of us, and I sat outside until midnight, rain and all, watching a display of power and light no war movie or fireworks display can touch.

In the 10+ years we have lived here (Scotts Valley), we have heard thunder three times. That's sad. One of the times, a thunderstorm at 2 in the morning woke us all. My children weren't afraid, they were >delighted< to hear thunder and see lightning again. I'm sorry for them that they have had to miss the power and beauty of nature's explosiveness.

I'm not denying the destructiveness of the storms we had the previous two winters, but there aren't enough dimensions to the weather here. Thank you, Nick, for reminding me of those long ago August afternoons.

  1. * Above lies the oldest remaining message from HEN3RY.
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