The Storm

              The Storm   by Paul Howlett

When the dark clouds were on the horizon and looming large and dark; silly me decided to go for a walk.

I thought that the storm was a long way off, and I had all the time in the world to take my daily exercise.

I took off along the streets of my neighbourhood, with my MP3 playing in my ears. I was happy and walked down a long road with my back to the storm clouds.

On reached the end of my road, I turned around and much to my  surprise I could see lighting and the storm clouds were almost over the whole suburb.

I hurried back as fast as I could walk.  The lightning flashed  and the thunder boomed, but I made it back home in time to garage the car. These summer storms in Queensland can come packed with hail, to dent your treasured machine. 

Fortunately this storm had no hail, but Oh Boy did it have some wind.

The dark clouds rolled across my house, the wind commenced to roar, and the palm tree nextdoor looked more like a rag in the wind, than a recognizable tree.    

I opened my front door and took a few photos before the ensuing rain came and forced me back inside.

The storm blew over without too much damage.  My nextdoor neighbour’s “Christmas Lights” Tree blew over and that was about all that really was potentially damaged.

The rain then settled in for the night and I know in my heart that our grounds, lawns, trees and district need more rain.

I just wish it did not start with a storm!