It seemed such a benign sort of day.
A tad breezy perhaps.
In late afternoon a treat was in store.
.
Grant looked outside at 6 pm.
There was Peanut.
With a Kit.
Big ears and short legs .
It made me think “Corgi”.
.
It was just the one and these foxes usually have litters of 4 or 5.
Peanut went off leaving the kit alone.
Eventually it trotted off in the same direction.
We think the den is nearby. Perhaps there are other kits. Maybe they were out when we weren’t watching.
.
Returning to the other end of the house, I looked to see what was happening in the thunderstorm department.
We had been promised a severe one.
Perhaps later, I thought and sat to download fox pictures.
Not long after it was getting a bit dark and I ducked my head to glance out.
Oh.
A great darkness was boiling from behind the hill.
Calling Grant to come and look, I ran out to the porch:
To the east the sky was still clear
A thick, dark blue blanket was rolling right over us.
The edges began to fray, then down came the rain. In buckets.
Back at my desk I was startled by a shrill alarm on my phone warning of 80 mph winds. We should stay away from windows to avoid injury from flying objects. Our hatches were battened, so to speak, so I decided I need not worry overmuch, but my computer had been thrown offline so I went to sit on my bed and finish my book. Patches came to pin me down hampering my window access. The tiny corner of sky I could see seemed to be turning a strange colour, but I had already seen the show. I went back to my book. Then it was Grant’s turn to call me. Sorry, Patches!
Not our first rainbow, but what followed was a unique 38-minute experience.
The setting Sun broke through to light the tops of clouds
One cloud appeared to attach to the light, carrying it across the sky
A sky which turned colours as we watched. Colours that my camera caught accurately.
The white cloud finally lost its link to the Sun as the scene continued to morph.
As if in response to the performance above, the land began to glow. It was as if the Earth was calling out:
“See how GREEN I am!”
End of rainbow, end of show? Oh no.
The rain had let up temporarily, but the storm was all around.
The setting Sun was determined to have a last word.
Pink and grey. I always thought they went together well.
The dark bits got really dark, but the rainbow had not yet quit.
We began to wonder how many acts this production would have.
Each way we turned, another scene.
How did that bit stay pink?
Apparently there was still a lot of pink in the pallet.
By now we were quite incredulous.
A slight tilt of the camera or eyes changed the appearance of the same cloud.
When finally it got dark, another front moved across bringing torrential rain and the noisiest thunder I have heard for a very long time. It shook the house.
There have been many thunderstorms in my years on the planet but never one as spectacular as this.
And the colours are quite authentic.
Thank you, Carolyn, for the spectacular pictures! I love the rainbow and the foxes!
Joanna
Carolyn, you always take great pictures, but these are another level of dazzling. Thank you for keeping an eye on the sky, and everything under it!
Ain’t nature grand! Great pictures.
You captured some amazing skies, Carolyn. Summer is strange this year. We have gale force winds in Beetley today, and yesterday it was dark skies by 2pm, (lights on in the house) with torrential rain all day.
Best wishes, Pete.
Absolutely stunning
My initial thought: Your first photo with the sun’s rays coming through the clouds, is beautiful! But then … wow, you have stunning photos in this post Carolyn – the thunder clouds, rainbow … everything is beyond beautiful! Even the corgi/fox 😉.