Thunderstruck

Another wild time in the old sky last night.  Thor amused himself by tossing lightning bolts hither and yon.  The elves moved west from the Catskills and bowled their games directly overhead.  Rain left over from Dolly's last party provided liquid refreshment.  To quote Yogi Berra, "It was deja vu all over again."

The clouds started rolling over in the afternoon, with occasional distant thunder over the mountains to the east.  The temperature dropped to a comfortable level.  Ah, relief!  And then it started raining and the lightning strikes were closer.  I unplugged the computer, not wanting to tempt fate twice.  The rain was brief, but the storm lingered.  One-thousand one, one-thousand two, BANG!  It was dark at least a half-hour before usual, and thunder rolled around me as I tucked the kids in bed.  The chickens didn't need any tucking; they were huddled together in their coops when I got to them.  The goats and Poppy pushed and shoved to get into the barn first.  Poor creatures, I can't imagine what they think on a day like this.

Back at the house, I made sure the cell phone was charged and there was water in the tea kettle, matches by the oil lamps, and working batteries in the flashlights.  This ain't my first rodeo.  I made sure to walk calmly and slowly so as not to make Bessie Anne more nervous than she was already.  The last storm really spooked her.  She followed me like a shadow, and stuck to me like a limpet when I sat down.  Deb and Craig called after nine to let me know a major storm cell was right over their heads (I could hear the thunder over the phone) and coming my way.  Sure enough, it took about an hour to get across the valley, bringing heavy rain.  With the lightning so close, it seemed prudent to turn off the TV, so I sat quietly with Bess plastered to my leg as we waited for the storm to pass.  We made it through without loss of power and when the last flash and clap ended, we went to bed.

It was a doozy of a day.