Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain .......

I'm sitting here at a job site in the rain - with some occasional thunder and lightening, which is why I'm SITTING here. The folks in charge of 'Safety' have issued an order to "...cease all non-essential outdoor activity." So I sit in my truck and listen to the rain - and best of all, get paid for it. I remember the last time I sat in the thunder and rain.

In case you haven't been following along, I live in Paradise - the Gulf Coast of Florida outside St. Petersburg. One of the most spectacular things about where I live is the sunset. I look west out over the Gulf and - weather permitting - watch the sun 'kiss' the water every evening. There are many pictures in my photo album. The link is on the left side of this page.

The Thursday evening before leaving FL for IL, I was headed down to the beach about 20 minutes before 'the kiss' when I saw huge purple clouds back to the east with flashes of lightening. And it was headed my way! But I was not going to be denied. I knew I would not be back here for a couple of months. So, dressed in flip-flops, swimsuit and tank-top; I put my digital camera inside a sandwich bag, grabbed an umbrella and walked the 150' to the beach.

I witnessed one of the most memorable sunsets I have ever seen. I was standing on the beach in the rain trying to keep the umbrella from blowing away as the wind and lightening swirl all around me. There was a momentary pause to consider the sanity of holding a metal umbrella over my head in a thunderstorm. Considering my family history - my grandfather (whom I am named after) was struck by lightening - this probably goes in the "Not So Smart" column.

But the view - phenomenal! As I looked west over the white-capped waves rolling onto the sandy shore, I saw another storm cloud just a few degrees to the right of where the sun was settling. These clouds were shades of grey and purple with orange and pink edges against the silvery sky. The round sun changed to a V-shaped cone of orange as it reflected off the dark sea. Then, there was a burst of lightening from the cloud to the water. Words cannot describe - and my cheap digital camera cannot record - what Mother Nature was doing at that moment.

The storm I'm sitting in now is also memorable because of the locale. I'm parked in the middle of an oil refinery waiting to pick-up a load of concrete forms going back to the vendor. There is a labyrinth of pipes running in all directions suspended about 20 feet off the ground on metal legs carrying some kind of liquid - or gas - from one tower to the next. Several towers have a steady stream of white smoke (steam?) flowing out. A couple of towers have huge fires burning at the top - hopefully intentionally - which the wind blows one way and then another, but never out amazingly. Cameras are STRICTLY forbidden.

I have been here more than 2 1/2 hours already. First waiting for their safety meeting to end, then for my escort to show up and - for the last hour - watching the rain - which seems to have let-up for the moment. Patience is not one of my virtues but it helps ALOT when the meter is running. But I prefer to be doing something.