« The Ghost Who Walks (Onto Your Bookshelf) | Main | Bush’s True Origin »
Smoke Blog: Watching the Storm Go By
By Mike | September 5, 2007
I had a pile of yard waste I wanted to burn before the predicted rain came, so I grabbed one of my Romeo y Julieta Reserva Reals and sat down to watch the bonfire. As I sat and smoked, I saw a storm brewing to the far west.
I like watching storms, but it dawned on me this is the first I’ve ever sat down and watch a storm move. Our view to the west is straight out over a farmer’s field, giving us a near-never ending, flat Illinois view of corn or beans in alternating seasons. But if you’re watching the sky, the view is perfect: no trees, no houses, no nothing.
The lightning flashed through the clouds frequently, and it was quite some time before the thunder got to me. As my cigar grew shorter, so too did that interval between flash and boom. Before long, the lightning filled most of the western sky, not in forked tongues but in great, day-bright flashes that seared the eyes.
Then it cut northward. The sky darkened toward sunset, but I could see the dark swathe of clouds consuming the northern sky, and the lightning gave chase. By the time I finished smoking, it had moved around to the north and out of sight behind my neighbors’ houses and the trees in their back yards.
I’m disappointed it didn’t roll straight in and overhead, but it was still great to watch and something I’ll have to try again in the future.