Summer Storms...............

I love 'em! Some of my earliest memories are of my Dad and I watching storms, my mother wasn't so fond of them so would ensconce herself in the middle of the family home and wait it out, but my Dad and I would park ourselves depending on the severity of the storm in the best position to see the storm out and marvel at nature's astonishing power. I find them invigorating and exciting and thrilling.

When it is a stinking hot day that only Brisbane seems to specialise in (I know I am being parochial) you just wait for the storm to come to break the heat and humidity!. You scan the sky and looking for the building thunderhead and watch it develop. My teenage years were spent on a mountain on the Sunshine Coast where we were perched on a hill and could see the storm evolve. The dog would start to freak out about six hours before the storm came and ensconce himself behind the washing machine, the dryer, basically any small dark place where he felt safe. His behaviour indicated a doozy of a storm was on its way. My dad and I would sit out on the tank stand and watch it roll in, calmly ignoring my mother's pleas to come in and what are you "freaking insane" etc etc.

I have one standout memory of being with an assortment of cousins and siblings and on the telstra mountain which is what we called the telstra/energex substation at Black Mountain Road, Cooroy, there was a dry electrical storm and we all got the idea to go up there and watch - the views being of the 360 degrees and utterly phenomenal (without parental permission of course) it was sensational, and to increase the risk factor we got out of the car and sat on the bonnet and roof just to boost the excitement factor. I have never seen fork lightning so spectacular nor so close since - as maturity brings with it commonsense! We all survived and enjoyed the spectacle but I suspect we were lucky!

I lived with my grandmother for quite a long time (13 years in total) and she is terrified of storms, unbeknownst to me for many years,was that she had witnessed a child being struck by lightning so that had scarred and scared her silly for the rest of her life. So I would be sticking my head out the windows and marvelling at nature's efforts and she would be shrieking at me and tugging my arm to rescue me from my foolishness!
I watched yesterday's storm from the balcony of Kedron-Wavell RSL sipping a Cointreau, lime and soda (my favourite tipple) and was restored by the spectacle Mother Nature laid upon us.
Now I know that a man died in the storm and damage was done but that is what happens if you are foolish you take the risk and gamble.

Make sure you are properly insured and all can be replaced and don't take foolish risks without expecting to pay the price. Yes I took a foolish risk being on top of a car in a dry electrical storm but that's the fun of being a teenager and completely risk attracted!

C'est la vie...........