Summer Storm

As I write it is past my bedtime just after midnight. A storm is grumbling outside and has been for the last several hours. One dog is huddled under the blankets in a tight ball of nerves. Poor baby. She doesn’t handle any loud noises well. The other is sprawled across the foot snoring away, completely oblivious to anything.

It strikes me that sometimes I love watching and listening to a thunderstorm. And sometimes it triggers a fearful reaction. So far I never can tell which reaction I will have. The further away it sounds, the more interested in listening to it I am. The closer or if the light strikes are over top of me, the more inclined I am to want to hide.

As a small child, my mom said I was terrified of storms. So they would turn the lights out and light candles. That way I wouldn’t freak out if the power went out. And back in those day, the power would go with the smallest breath of wind. Things are a lot better now. The power companies trim the trees back away from the power lines. If the power goes out now; there has either been a pretty significant weather event or something happened to a transformer or line.

I seem to have lost track of where this post was supposed to be going. Probably because it is past my bedtime and the barometric pressure plays havoc with my head.

I probably intended to write something about the force of nature and how it effects the characters and events in your story. And yet sometimes it is overlooked and nothing happens. In Tolkien’s The Hobbit, when the trolls where arguing about how to cook the dwarves and the dawn catches them turning them to stone. That could have been the end of the story if he hadn’t used the force of nature and given the trolls a weakness to sunlight.

Another thing a writer should think about is how weather and the force of nature effects the characters. Do they fear tight cramped spaces? Thunderstorms? Rushing water? Heights? Rivers? Mountains? What reaction would they have to encountering these hardships? Those are questions to keep in mind as you write.

Cheers and good night or good morning depending on where you are in the world. james

Owl’s Fancy: Storm

Gobby hanging out at the dinette.

Tonight is Sunday, October 13th and we are having a thunderstorm. Ordinaraily that wouldn’t be anything to write about other than the joy I get from watching and writing during storms. Miss having a front porch to sit and watch from. (A post for another time)

This is the beginning of our third week living a camper lifestyle. And this is the first storm we have had since we bought Owl’s Fancy, much less moved in. I have checked and I don’t see any water seeping in from outside. Yay! The sound of the rain, wind and thunder are magnified. But comforting.

I am hoping Hurricane Season is over and done for us. I don’t think I have enough zen calm to weather a hurricane in an untied down camper. Of course the weather and emergency folks will tell you to seek shelter in a permanent shelter. But luckily enough this isn’t one of those.

Our landlady/campground host had a tree removed from behind us because it was in bad shape. Tonight I am glad we aren’t worrying about it. The tree was hollow in the base and filled with the big black ants the size of your thumb knuckle. (Yucky hate those things)

Thunder is rumbling. Rain has softened. Dogs have been acting clingy all afternoon. They have been sensing the changes in the atmosphere. Gobby is currently hugging my husband. He is more panicky than Roxie. She is curled up in the blankets snoozing. He is having a panic attack, poor baby. He has never been that good with storms.

Well I think I have spent enough time writing this that the storm has passed over. Cheers, james