Mother Nature’s Fireworks

In the middle of last night, Mt. Hood was lit up by flashes of lightning as thunder cracked and roared. Quite an awesome display of natural fireworks, but it frightened the dogs who ended up huddled in the bedroom with me. Pounding rain ensued (it IS Oregon, after all) drenching and pounding flowers into the ground and sending a cascade of pine cones onto my roof and yard. So far in 2008, we have had two days when the temp was above 90 degrees. It is cool this morning and the air is full of smoke drifting up from California. No sun to dry things out.

In two days I will be flying into the heartland and perhaps into more stormy weather. There was heavy rain in Kansas City last night and hailstones as big as ping pong balls! This is a wet summer everywhere. Gardeners are mourning the loss of their vegetables, farmers bemoaning the destruction of crops. The orchards here are coming in late and the harvest is skimpy. Prices are skyrocketing accordingly.

Has it always been like this? When did Weather (with a capital W) become the top news story every night? It does seem that there are more newsworthy weather events than in the past. But surely…surely…we have something else to talk about. How about the mother dachshund that adopted the baby pig? Great story. Or the next American Idol?

Anyway…Mother Nature has done her bit for Independence Day and now folks are hoping for fair weather tomorrow for their barbecues and trips to the river. For all of you out there, be cautious and don’t blow yourself up or catch yourself on fire.