Me, Myself and I; Storms

Storms have a dark side.  They can leave a trail of heartbreaking devastation in their wake, but they also clear the air.  Before a storm, there is a build-up of pressure which is then released during and after the storm.  I remember being in a pub in my late teens, watching a night of local bands play live music.  It was in the summer and the bands were playing in a room was upstairs where it got so warm the fire escape doors were opened to let some air in.  

During a break in-between bands, I was stood at this doorway with some friends and we, alongside others all watched transfixed as we watched a storm approach and the sky light up with the most beautiful lightning show I had ever seen.  

This was before the days of mobile phones with cameras and so I don't have any images or video footage of this storm.  Something I'm gutted about as it's a storm I often think about because none that I have witnessed since has been as breathtaking.  I'm aware of the locations I'm witnessing storms are more built-up areas and not from a vantage point of seeing half the town's skyline.

As a kid I always loved watching the rain, I'd watch raindrops race each other down the window, create ripples in puddles and drip off the end of an umbrella.  It's still one of my favourite things to do when its raining heavy no matter what time of year it is.  In summer I love the smell in the air after a rainstorm, I think this goes back to my childhood when I grew up in Germany and there would be frequent summer storms so I think it reminds me of that.

I look at the rain and storms as clearing and cleansing the air around me. As I watch the rainfall in puddles or run down the window, I crack the window open so I can hear the rain or the storm, take a couple of slow deep breaths and send a grateful 'Thank you' out into the universe for my home that is sheltering me from the rain.

I would like to witness and capture lightning on camera if I can just as a reminder of that night in my teens of watching a storm roll across the sky in between watching live bands play upstairs in a local pub.