Friday, July 27, 2007

What I've been waiting for

Summer in Colorado is supposed to be hot. It is supposed to be dry, and there are supposed to be afternoon thunderstorms most afternoons that cool things off for the evening. Sure, there can be a week here and there where it doesn't storm, so it stays hot even at night, but that usually only goes on for a few days before the next storm develops.

This summer has been different. It's been mostly consistently hot since mid-June. We haven't really had any breaks, and the few thunderstorms that have come around haven't cooled things down. We haven't gotten rain. I've been waiting for WEEKS for the weather to break, for the afternoon thunderstorms to bring rain and cool down the inside of our house. It's been over 80 degrees even in the middle of the night in our house because the temperature outside hasn't dropped below that in at least six weeks.

Last night, it dropped a bit; we got a tiny storm with about 18 drops of rain, and today was cloudy and somewhat cooler. As I walked home this afternoon, the sky began to darken and I could feel the pressure change in my sinuses, so I had great hopes that we'd finally get the big thunderstorm that's been due for weeks now. Finally, my hopes were realized as a large clap of thunder followed the lightning out the window at 5:20. Then, the rains came, in great sheets, soaking the parched ground and running off down the street. Loud booms and claps continued, and flashes, and the kitties turned into bottle-brushes and raced around the house in both anxiety and excitement. Finally, finally, it is raining and thundering and lightninging and BOOM!ing for long, rolling seconds. I loves me some thunder/lightning, just as I still love the snow, both weather conditions being unusual to my place of origin. Our yard is going to be so much happier from the temperature drop and the water. It's 5 after six and the rain is still coming down, the thunder is still BOOM!ing, and the temperature in our apartment's down to about 75 degrees. Finally, I am happy.


Petra perches on paper, but won't stop moving


Loki decides he is unconcerned, because he is the devil.

Wet garden. You can see our tomatoes, peppers, basil and marigolds.

2 comments:

Yank In Texas said...

lucky you to have dry weather! i like rain but i've had enough of it. Our yard looks like ass because it doesn't dry out long enough to mow. We're losing our tomatoes to wet rot. Sigh. But the kitty pics are so cute.
Storms are nice once in a while.

Cilicious said...

Maybe the monsoon has begun, Mle.
I like rain, and understand and appreciate how it can cool things down. But when it comes to the drama of storms, I can be like the kitties, scurrying around in a mild panic.
We've had some hellacious thunderstorms here.
I never used to be *quite* such a wuss about lightning till I moved to Florida, our nation's lightning capitol. Ah well, thunderstorms are preferable to hurricanes.