In Seattle, a city often jibed for year round rain, one wouldnt expect a simple storm to draw much attention. But for almost two weeks now, weve enjoyed a spat of phenomenally nice weather, such that this early evening we had a brief storm worthy of note.
The sky was mostly blue, with scattered clouds strewn about – nothing indicative of a storm. Yet as I sat on my porch, I saw a flash from the corner of my eye, followed shortly thereafter by thunder.
Thunder! What an wondrous thing. It seems to come from one direction at first, but instantly begins to echo and reverberate from all directions with a sound of ominous, rolling force – completely enveloping the listener without so much as touching a hair.
Soon, another flash, and another, followed by their own accompanying roar through the sky, all the while with the sun still shining and trees and grass looking upwards, eagerly awaiting the rains.
Its a trickle at first, with a subtle breeze, followed by an outright deluge from the sky, despite a continued preponderance of blue. Where is it coming from? I can look upwards to the falling rains and the sun reflects off the rapidly moving droplets in odd and varied places, making the sky appear to sparkle with the brilliance of a thousand points of light on a journey back to the earth, streams, rivers, lakes and oceans from which they came.
But in the course of mere minutes, the bulk of the activity seems to have past, leaving behind a bluer sky, greener trees, wetter roads, and that familiar scent of a summer storm that was merely passing through. It is simultaneously a reminder of what our Autumn and Winter will bring, and a wake-up call to really appreciate the beauty and wonder of this and every day that passes by.
Copyright 2000, Ashley Guberman