The Storm

Tonight was one of the most magical nights: huge storm heads passing by a hundred or so miles away, each section of the towering clouds flickering in turn with distant lightning. For a long time I stood in the field, fighting away mosquitoes as I took long exposures of the storm, my camera set up on a tripod. Timmy huddled beside me under a blanket, sharing it with me between my fiddlings with the camera to give some protection from the bugs.

I enjoyed sitting there with my younger brother, watching the distant storm.  I'm sure he will remember that all too rare moment spent with his older brother as I have similar memories that have long stayed with me.

The clouds reached across the clear sky above us towards the near-full moon and I reoriented my camera to capture the sweep of the clouds across the stars and moon.

As the sky darkened above us the first raindrops reached us along with a steadily growing roar from the oak trees across the road. 
For a moment the air was perfectly still...
and then it slipped into motion around us,
bringing with it another smattering of rain.

Timmy and I raced for the house as the wind brought the world around us to dancing.  The grass rippled, trees shook in all directions, the tarps on our woodpile shivered and flapped.  I tried to fit through the back door but had to stop and collapse my tripod, a sense of excited urgency bringing speed to my movements.  We grabbed Willy from where he was reading on the couch and pulled him outside where the warm breeze smelled of rain and thunder. For a moment I watched the trees as they danced in the wind

and then I was off.

Across the field I ran, barefoot, not bothering to dodge the thick patches of thistles.  As I climbed up through the branches the moon found a hole in the thinning clouds and leaf shadows rippled across my arms, my hands.  I found a crook in the top of the tree and stood, watching the lighting, now in the northeast, having passed us by.

The Tree
 
I breathed in the night,

my thoughts on the beauty

around me.

I was riding the wind at the top of a tree

the silver moon lighting my back,

a storm showing off its beauty and power before me.

And have I yet mentioned the fireflies?

Or the stars peeking through the clouds?

All of nature seemed to join together
on this magical summer evening
to create this special moment of perfection,

one that will live long in my memory

There will surely be other nights
but I would count myself lucky
to live through another
as perfect as this one.

--Clayton Clemetson