The Storm - Not in Escondido

Early in the evening there was a gentle shower. Enough to cause some runoff from the streets and sidewalks, and to cool and moisten the air. It seemed like that would be the end of the stormy weather, a last little exhalation before a quiet night. So later, after we were in bed, when we heard a couple of small rumblings of thunder, it seemed like it must be a far distant storm. Then, all of a sudden and out of nowhere there was a flash of lightening and an immediate clap of thunder. Not the rumbling growling thunder that you hear most of the time. Not even the quick sharp crack with sparks that signals a close lightning bolt. This was thunder like the hands of a giant ripping apart a large sheet of canvas, a sweeping hissing sound that says “I missed you this time, but next time, you may not be so lucky!” Where did it come from, we all wondered? Did it form right on top of us – that didn’t seem likely. The dogs barked at the sound and quickly discovered that they couldn’t chase it away so they crawled under the bed. Then the storm began. The trees were lit from behind with a series of flashes just long enough to see how hard the wind was blowing. The flashes were from everywhere all at once, and so was the thunder. Some on top of us, some a long way away, but most close but not close enough to ooze fright or apprehension. The rain came too, heavier this time but without the hail that signals a tall tall storm. I love thunderstorms. The cool that they bring, the smell of the rain, the ozone in the air that is bracing and fresh. With this storm, knowing what causes lightning and thunder and the rain didn’t help. Counting the seconds from the flash to the deep heavy rolling sound was distracting but didn’t help – oh, you now know how far away that bolt was but that doesn’t matter, the next one could be right here. It was all around us and there was no escaping, we were fully in its grasp; the storm could do whatever it liked with us. After a half hour of beating us, the storm moved slowly away. However, just before it retreated from our senses, we got one more flash that was right on top of us, one more sheet ripping clap of thunder that seemed to say “Here’s a little something to remember me by!”