On Boom Times – UPDATED

Greetings, my fellow port swillers!

We’re being teased with the possibility of thunderstorms this afternoon and tomorrow in the neighborhood of Port Swiller Manor.  I hope the forecast proves more than just a tease, since I love the boomers and we haven’t really had a direct hit so far this spring.

The funny thing is that Ol’ Robbo was quite frightened of lightning and thunder until fairly well on into his early adult life.  Eventually, I just sort of outgrew it (unlike G. Gordon Liddy, I didn’t have to tie myself to a tree to do so) and now, as I say, the flash and bang delight me.

I recall once in my teen years walking into my bedroom during a storm.  My window looked out on our back yard and just as I glanced out a lightning bolt hit a hackberry tree maybe twenty yards away.  It was close enough that I could hear the initial ziiip before the almost-immediate explosion.  I instinctively hit the floor pretty hard that time, but now I think I’d simply give it a “Ted” Theodore Logan “Whoooah!” instead.

The tree, incidentally, carried a long burn mark after that and never really recovered.  A couple years later it got taken out completely by what was either a microburst or perhaps a very small tornado.  I actually felt sorry for that tree.

UPDATE:  Narp.**  Looks like the main action drifted east of us.  Darn it.

 

**Spot the quote.