Storms

First there is, in the distance, near the horizon to the northwest, an ominous darkness. Overhead, and in every other direction the sky is pale blue and bright, with some talc-like streaks of white, but from that northwest direction darkness approaches. As it moves nearer and covers more of the sky, detail becomes visible. These are mountain sized clouds, like charcoal colored smoke, that swirl and tumble and climb. At the leading edge, and in the semi-circle of visible perimeter the dark veil is translucent, letting some of the bright, light blue leak through. Toward the center, though, the storm is dark as ink, opaque, eclipsing the brightness behind it, and full of rage. There is, as yet, no thunder, no lightning, or rain. As the black mass overtakes all of the sky, the air outside takes on an unnatural blue-green tint, like viewed through a photographic filter. The bushes begin to sway, some in contradictory directions, the trees become animated, curling and waving their limbs, the air gets noticeably cooler, dried leaves scurry across the driveway, then eddy at the porch steps, but still no rain or thunder. In the heart of the blue-black swirls, writhing, violent fingers remind that one funnel shaped finger could, at any time, reach down to the ground and draw a swath of destruction. Then, as if an unseen hand yanked the chain, the rain bursts out in marble-sized drops, then a sheet. The sky flashes, thunder follows immediately, startlingly loud, quick, and near. The passing cars drop to slow-motion, their wipers not up to the task, and the gutters now curb high torrents extending out, inches deep, into the lanes. To the north, near the horizon, a semi-circle of bright blue reappears, reminding that it isn't nightfall yet, that the darkness is passing, and the sunlit late afternoon will return. As abruptly as the rain began, it now ceases. The cars speed up, sending a wake of water over the sidewalk. Thunder rumbles, in the distance now, as somewhere else someone else looks up into the heart of the dark violence. But here, now, the light blue regains control, and the soaked driveway and sidewalks steam as the warmth returns. The foreboding has passed, the anxiety has been dismissed, and the darkness has moved out of sight.