Storm Front Coming.....

I’d finished work about an hour or so ago, and had called into Woolies to pick up a few snacky things. I was going to go healthy, and did, but also succumbed to the call of the ice-cream aisle. Said ice-cream was ear-marked to be my accompaniment to a DVD.

As I was riding to work this morning, I looked at the skies and thought that they had that “late summer, thunderstorm” look about them. The atmosphere was also on the warmer side, and indicated that my initial impression was a fair call. Most of the day, however, turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day.

Checking my emails and Facebook, I considered making a juice and sitting on the balcony, drinking and reading, enjoying the remnants of a glorious afternoon. But that, alone, wasn’t enough to motivate me. It wasn't until the rolling peal of thunder, distant, understated, but oh, so very present, that I was impelled to act. Fetching my generic ice-cream (which was surprisingly quite good, and was actually ice-CREAM and not ice-CONFECTION!) and sat on the balcony to watch whatever show was about to unravel.

First there was a mass of dark, grey clouds, progressing evenly and steadily across the skies. They murmured their deep, throaty declarations that, yes, there was a change in the weather about to occur. As they progressed on their travels, there were a few subdued flashes of lightning, not wanting thunder to have all the attention. Their illumination was evident in the way that considered well-positioned down-lighting is: you know it’s there, but it you don’t have to be caught in its halogen-headlight glare to acknowledge it. and then there was the occasional flash that WAS feeling insecure and DID need validation by being more visible and open to acknowledgement.

The lower clouds began to form a misshapen winged keel, reminding me of the special effects of ghouls and evil spirits who have begun to manifest here on earth from the underworld, or some other dimension. Or when the dark liquid mixes with the light liquid of a high tech bomb, set by some megalomaniac trying conquer the world by destroying it. And then that ship sailed.

It was replaced by lighter clouds, and even a daring hint of blue sky. I tried to imagine myself as a painter, contemplating the ratio of black and blue and white acrylic I would need to combine before resulting in just the right shade to give my masterpiece that feel of reality. Strangely enough, it was only at this point that the winds stirred from their slumbering stillness, perhaps the older family member irate at the inappropriateness of the younger generational elements and their need to party noisily. And then came the rain, or heavy drizzle, such that it was. Like the star of a show, putting in its appearance, out of obligation to the show’s backers and the paparazzi, before into the night and mystery of their life! And now….the skies are 80% clear, the almost setting sun does shine, the roads are drying and I’m left thinking, “THAT was the storm???”