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An ear-splitting thunderclap directly above the house set six cats fleeing for their lives while deaf Sophia watched in amazement.
Deafness can be a blessing for a nervous cat.
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Little Man burrowed under my bedspread and remained there until I assured him two hours later that it was safe to come out.
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Immediately we lost our internet connection but we were fortunate not to lose power until the very moment we’d cooked our supper.
Almost cooked. We decided slightly crunchy cauliflower would be perfectly acceptable.
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Losing power means also losing water pressure, so we left our dishes in the sink and retired with our books for the duration.
Power was restored within two hours but the internet was off until sometime during the night. I never mind being forced off for a period.
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Storm clouds had been around us since early morning but rain held off until Grant got all his equipment set up outside.
As it involved electrical appliances, he was obliged to beat a hasty retreat.
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The storms were on again, off again, so I spent the day watching the cloud formations.
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And the changing light.
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Conditions were not quite right for a rainbow to form.
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But the setting sun lit the tops of lingering clouds.
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Apres-storm evening. Perfect.
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It took me back to the days when I travelled frequently and spent many hours gazing at clouds through a window.
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Before in-flight entertainment, I never had trouble with boredom.
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Looking out at the clouds passing beneath, I day-dreamed.
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Sometimes, of course, the clouds towered so high we were obliged to pass through them and then the flight became a little turbulent.
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The bouncing did not disturb me, but I didn’t care for flying in bad weather because I like it better if the pilots can see where they are going.
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Returning from England once, my flight was involved in a near-miss coming in to Kennedy Airport. Very near.
A colleague seated beside me was himself a pilot and as our flight climbed steeply, he exclaimed “we’re going to stall!”, which I really would have preferred he didn’t.
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But it wasn’t until we landed that I learned what had nearly happened. Next day I saw the crew on their way back to London and they asked if I had been frightened.
“Luckily,” I said, “I didn’t know to be!”
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Years later, I was on another flight that was involved in a similar incident immediately after landing.
Those were two occasions that I became aware of, but all sorts of things happen that you don’t ever know about.
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One of our Concorde pilots positioned back to London once, sitting in the rearmost row of seats.
The flight passed through a storm and a bolt of lightning struck the nose, then travelled the length of the aircraft, passing by the man sitting across the aisle, which I think was a little startling, but the aeroplane was unaffected.
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Stormy weather is wonderful to watch.
From a safe remove.
Goodness, Carolyn, you have nerves of steel! Stormy weather is only interesting to watch when you are on the ground. When flying, I loved to look at the clouds, imagining how wonderful it would be to walk on them. Lovely to see Little Man so comfortable on your beautiful bed! Thank you!
Joanna
We’ve had a few rainbows recently and social media was full of comments such as “Oh we saw that one too.” little realising that we each see our own particular version of a rainbow! Isn’t nature wonderful!
Your stormy clouds are beautiful. I would rather not want to know when there is a problem with a plane while I am a passenger. And I also like thunderstorms, but then I must be safe at home (not on a plane and also not in a tent). Poor cats … and lucky Sophia.