perevision

I love lightning. I really do. I turn off the TV and lights so I can watch a lightning storm. I have the branches trimmed outside my windows so I can see it. It's what I missed the most in London, next to sunshine.

I love that splitting crack of thunder just after a big flash of lightning. It's even better after I see the bolt itself, thick and white and changing the colour of the sky.

One day I'll learn how to paint it, but it still won't be the same.

Some lovely things that are happening today:

A thunderstorm. Bar slight worry about basement flooding, I enjoy thunderstorms because they remind me of home. The rain is drumming heavily on my skylight and the glass roof of our entryway, accompanied by the rumblings and occasional sharp snarls of thunder. The thunder never lasts long and I never see lightning bolts, just the flashes. Sad. Curiously enough the sunlight is reflecting off the clouds in such a way that it's uncommonly bright--a sunny and stormy day, which also reminds me of home. Ahh, the great British summertime.

Amazon is sending me faithful updates on the status of The Book That Will Break The Internet. "Your package is being prepared for dispatch." "Your package is now ready for dispatch." I eagerly anticipate the next update. (This is a dignified way of saying "I bounce in my chair and squeal as I read the email over and over again. Tee hee.")

Also, new icons.

BBC weather SWORE this morning it would be sunny. Not even partly cloudy. They had a great fat yellow SUN on their web page.

A few hours later:Our patio floor is under three inches of water. Our gutter drain is gushing like Niagara. There was LIGHTNING. It was a monsoon rain such as I always claim they never have here.

Just checked BBC's website. The sun has been replaced by a smug looking thundercloud, as if to say, "What sun? You must be delusional; we never said anything about sun."