Another day, another thunderstorm. This one was huge, stretching from the Hudson valley to New Hampshire. It got really, really dark, and then really, really windy. The rain came down in torrents. The lights kept flickering. Of course, it was almost quitting time, so we milled around for a bit, peering out the windows to see if it was letting up at all. It finally did, a little after five, so most of us booked it out of there. I saw some spectacular lightning on the way home, as well as a few branches (and a couple of trees) down along the road. There was no power in parts of Agawam and Southwick, but everything here was on. Bonus: no tornadoes this time. All the weathercasters pointedly said that this was not the same sort of storm we had last week. It was still pretty intense, though! We'll all be a little nervous during severe storms for a while, I think.

I might just venture out for a walk now. There's no chocolate in the house, and *that* is a tragedy. *g*

I'm looking forward to the premiere of Fringe on the telly tonight. It's been a while since there's been anything new on TV, especially anything genre. Since it's on Fox, I can only hope that lots of other people watch too, especially if it turns out to be as good as its premise. I'm kind of tired of being disappointed by canceled genre series.

If you wish you'd started watching Lost from the beginning, you're getting a second chance! They're going to start showing it on SciFi next Monday. I'll be watching to get my Sawyer fix. *g*

I was a little skeptical of the dire warnings about severe storms from Weatherbug today, since they didn't seem to me to be all that severe, but I saw several trees and limbs down on my way home from work. Whoa!

I got stuck in my car at lunchtime today, due to a wicked* thunderstorm. It started when I was down at Heritage Park, with the sky turning a menacing black and the trees swaying wildly in the wind. I rolled up the windows and headed back to work just as the skies opened up. I didn't want to get soaked, so I sat in the parking lot while pea-sized hail pelted my Hyundai. Since I was stuck there for a few minutes at least, I got out my Moleskine and started writing:

Thunderstorms are sentient. Rolling through, making lots of noise, threatening. "Get to shelter!" they shout, as the thunder gets louder and the flashes brighter. A few warning drops fall. Trees bare the undersides of their leaves like flags, loose bits of plant matter scatter across pavement. Trees tremble in fear, suddenly thinking that maybe being tallest isn't such a good thing after all. As the storm gets closer, it drops its load in torrents and gusts that come in waves. If you listen closely, you can hear laughter underneath the thunder as the storm looses its power. Creatures huddle, hiding until it's safe to come out again. Suddenly, it's over; all that is left is a few stray leaves and the trickle of water running toward the storm drains. The storm has moved on to the next town, to wreak its havoc in another place.

I grabbed my umbrella, just in case, and went back to work.

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*Why yes, I live in New England, why do you ask?