Storm Force

The weather is an ever changing topic of conversation.  Summer can be hot and sunny, or hot and stormy.

Last evening a storm raged through this area.  The skies darkened, clouds in the distance held a peculiar glow, and the wind picked up.  I closed vehicle windows, hurriedly filled the wheelie bin and parked it across the street for emptying today.

Just after 5.00pm lightning crackled, and thunder echoed around.  The storm was approaching.  Then it hit!  The gum trees bent and twirled in a frantic dance as the wind whipped branches tossing them some distance from whence they came.  A large branch crashed to the ground, silently, near the bedroom wall.  Would the electricity wires hold?  They did, but the electricity went off. 

I dished up tea, washing dishes as we ate as I had no desire to leave dirty dishes to be washed by the light of a light powered from a car battery.  [Significant Other has the battery and the tube handy for these occasions.  Candles have their own place should the power go off unexpectedly in the night.] 

Frightning noises of bits of tree falling onto the roof proved to be nothing more than dry twigs breaking under the force.  Thankfully the house escaped, not so a tree trunk in what I call 'the park'. 

Almost as quickly as it began the storm subsided, thunder moving further away.  We decided to take a quick look at what damage had occurred.  A large tree branch lay over the railway line at the bottom of the property; we dragged it off, but within the hour the railway powers that be had a scout driving along the line looking for fallen debris.

Significant Other has a radio telephone and from that it became obvious that a tree had fallen on the power lines not far away and traffic needed to drive on one side of the road.

It is difficult to read by a dim light; it is equally difficult to stitch by a dim light; bed seemed the obvious option.  Spiders do not appear to like storms!  One huge spider was despatched!!  This morning another equally large spider was found on the floor of the bedroom doorway.  It joined its mate!

After breakfast [we have gas!] we headed out for a look around.  Trees were uprooted, a shed collapsed its roof ending up across the road.  The tree over the power line still had a diversion around it, and everywhere branches lay tossed like match sticks along the roadside, and in the bush lining the roadway.

Finally, at 1.30pm today, the electricity came back on, food in the freezer should be OK;  and now the water cooler is working to cool the 40 degree heat.   About 30kms away a bush fire that had its beginnings in a lightning strike burns;  sending dark palls of smoke into the sky. 

This is summer in Australia!