Storm

When summer storms leave they are boring to look at and certainly don’t attract this photographer.  However, as they arrive they often create a drama in the skies.  On the prairies you might see it coming when it’s an hour away.

Two days ago I was driving to visit a friend when this beauty caught my attention.  I looked for a place to stop and take a photograph, but then realised that the back yard of my friend’s property would be ideal.  I made this image from his yard, then we settled in his house for coffee and craic.  I had noticed that the cloud didn’t seem to be moving, so it left my thoughts.  After all, I had a good photograph to work with—what else mattered.

However, what I soon learned was, the reason it hadn’t seemed to be moving was because it was travelling directly at us.  An hour later it arrived with a vengeance.  We watched through the window, amazed at the heavy rain, but then hail arrived.  My heart skipped a beat as I remembered that my wife had been bringing two tubs of beautiful flowers inside every night to protect them from frost, then putting them out every morning.

Had she put them out this morning?

There was nothing I could do. If I was at home I could have brought them in, but travelling home would be useless.  If they were out, the damage was done.  What a hopeless feeling.

As it turned out, she left the house in a hurry that morning and couldn’t take the time to put them out.

Saved—but not because I had been clever—just fortunate.