Oct. 29, 2007 storm

Yesterday Oct. 29, 2007, was my day off. I was just kicking back,
drinking hot lemon tea to get rid of a cold, when a news flash came across the
TV screen warning of a severe thunderstorm. I thought what a beautiful photo the lightning would make. A mighty powerful photo indeed.

So about 7 p.m.,I decided to venture out and see what I could
get.The wind was blowing branches all over the place and the rain was
coming down in buckets. I really couldn't see anything out of the car
windows except for the brightness of the lightning as it lit up
the sky. The bolts of lightning seemed so close but yet so far away.

I drove around trying to find the perfect spot to take my Photographs--first to the UC Merced campus, then by the lake, up Yosemite Avenue and finally parking on Arboleda Road. I rolled my window down and placed my camera on the sill to steady it. I put the camera on bulb, held the shutter open for a few seconds hoping to catch the bolts of lightning, but as soon as I let up on the shutter, lo and behold, the sky filled up with the bolts that looked like neon
upside-down tree limbs.

Did I capture it on camera? No. I tried for about 20 minutes, but every
time, I would just miss by seconds.

So I decided to drive around town surveying the damage, maybe catching crazy drivers driving though the flooded streets too fast and maybe seeing a couple of trees down. Well, I saw both--vehicles going through the intersection of Motel
Drive, 21st street and Glen Avenue on Yosemite Parkway. Then I proceeded to Cypress Avenue off Yosemite Parkway and there was a tree branch that had been severed from the tree blocking the street.

Red flares had been placed around the tree for safety purposes until
the city could get a tree crew out to cut it up. I then heard on the scanner that a tree had fallen into house off of McKee and Stretch road. I headed out there, and sure enough there was this big 100-year-old pine tree that had been uprooted and taken the front porch and two bedrooms out in its path to the ground. It was blocking the whole roadway.

Nobody was injured, the owners were out.

The storm was quite fierce, twisting and tearing at whatever was in
its path, as it passed over Monday evening. It seemed as though it was gone as fast as it appeared. The skies became clear and the stars were out, but in the distance lightning still illuminated the skies as the storm moved eastwardly towards the mountains.

The storm was beautiful and dangerous. One day I will
capture the infamous bolts of lightning. Till then the storm has
passed and the sun is out.

Oh what a beautiful day it is--Oct. 30, 2007.