Thunderstorms

This is the new house they built two lots down from us.  Notice the dark sky.

We’ve had a rainy couple of weeks, which is unusual for the desert.  I’m not complaining because it will be hot and dry for months and that situation isn’t far away.  I did read that the weather would be milder and wetter than normal this year.  If that’s true, maybe we’ll luck out and skip many of the triple digits that plague this area in July, August and part of September.

Now thunderstorms are amazing with forked lightning in the desert behind our house followed by loud cracks of thunder.  Rain beats on the windowpanes so hard that sometimes I wonder if they’ll snap and cave in.  My ears, which aren’t the best, can even hear the wind as it whistles around the house.

 The desert behind my house

 

I find this circumstance to be great writing weather.  But it can also be crazy dreams weather.  What else can explain the wacky dreams I have during thunderstorms?

During the first week of May, we had such a storm.  I had a terrible time getting to sleep but that is nothing new.  In my dream, there was a giant white cloud so dense that it blocked out everything.  It swirled around picking up speed, going faster and faster until it slammed into the window, completely blocking out everything.  When the cloud finally cleared after hitting my window several times in forceful torrents, I looked out to find the ground covered in massive snow banks.

Rain in the desert

My first thought was, “What?  That was rain, not snow.”  I woke up then and wandered about the house looking outside.  It was just wet and a drizzle was coming down.  If there was wind, it had subsided.

I finally went back to bed after checking on the cats.