~~RAIN RAIN GO AWAY....I TAKE THAT BACK, IT'S OKAY~~

On the way home from work today, the sun was shining bright and it seemed awfully hot. During my short commute home, the oh-so-accurate weather guy announced..."It's now sunny and 87 degrees, but with that humidity, it feels more like 90!" He goes on to say, "Way to take the last day of summer out with a bang!" He wasn't too far off, a bang there was.

I knew earlier, that they were calling for storms, Peanutt had gotten an alert while still at work, that it was headed this way. But the sunshine that was glinting in my eyes and the sweat that was beading on my forehead during my drive, sure didn't indicate what was about to come.

Not that this was one of the worst storms ever, or even remotely close to it...but it was a good one! It started with the oddly blue/gray typical pre-storm skies, then changed to a soft light green. You could see several small funnel clouds in the distance, but pretty far up there. To the south, there were still some bright blue skies with billowy clouds.

I stepped out onto my patio, and big, fat, perfectly rounded drops began to fall. While it felt good, they were hitting with a little bit of force, I knew what was about to come. I scooped up the dog and headed in.

I bet it wasn't 3-4 minutes later and the wind began to howl making the trees just bow. They were swaying back and forth and from side to side. Almost like the wind was coming from every direction. I ran to the front of the house, where you always get the best view (our storms usually always come from the northwest), and it was kind of scary. The sky had now changed to a sand-like color, almost like the color of dead fall leaves, there was now almost constant thunder and lightning, the wind had picked up even more, and the rain was falling fast, hard and at a severe angle. It was as dark as if it were midnight and didn't look like there were an end in sight.

This went on for a quite a few minutes, anxiety creeping its way in there a bit, when I saw the brightest blue light and heard a boom that would certainly wake the dead. It was a deep dark ocean blue in the center and ballooned out gradually getting lighter as it went along, until it was almost a white color and then disappeared. I can only assume that it was maybe a transformer blowing, or that lightning struck a little too close for my comfort, but yet, I could see down the street and around the corner, and they still had power. I was also talking to my next door neighbor during all of this, and when that boom hit, my cell phone went completely dead. I paced the floors and tried calling her back a few times, with no luck. When I went back to my watch, out the front window I could see light skies in the distance. It rained and poured for another 15 minutes or so and then the sun began to peek its way out.

That was a good hour ago, now it's dark and no longer muggy. The air feels fresh and clean. I stood outside for a long time, just enjoying how peaceful it is out there. The street was utterly quiet except for the chirping of crickets. I wasn't bothered by pesky mosquitos, I wasn't hot or cold...it was one of those times where it was just perfect out! Stars in the sky, and just a soft whisper of a breeze. I wish I could just stop my mommy duties and hang out there all night long, but I can't! Back to reality for me, I have laundry to do! =)

P.S. My neighbor came over after the storm passed through...she said when she saw that huge flash of light and heard the boom, it had her so shaken, she turned off all her phones and lights and went and sat in the back room in the dark, until it got quiet again. She was too scared to "storm watch" anymore! LOL (I guess I know who not to have accompany me, if I ever become a storm watcher!!!)

Have a great night!!