OK, yesterday and today, we've had an "unseasonable" cold front come through here in Oklahoma. I will say, today was REALLY NICE for pleasant, cool temps. But last night, as the cold front approached, storms were forecast. Could have wind, rain, hail, etc. So .... we did have a rain storm go through, and it didn't seem too bad, except maybe some sharp lightning here and there. But as the storm moved out .... our power went out. The whole town. (Found out later some power poles blew over somewhere.)
First, some pictures of the storm ... there was a lot to look at. It may have been "small" by some standards, but it was full of itself.
Some good rain, with sharp lightning and reverberating thunder.
A rainbow over our neighbor's house.
Just for fun, I took a big "panorama" picture with my phone, so what you see here is from looking east (left edge of picture) to looking west (right edge of picture), generally looking south over our house.
Some cool "mammatus" clouds in the west.
A smaller "panorama," sorry it's a little crooked, showing a rainbow and a bright-white rain shaft.
A snippet of rainbow, and our neighbor's tree with the bright rain behind it, making it look like it's "glowing" ....
That rain shaft was really bright, very cool-looking.
Then, as more dark clouds formed in the west, with the light shining on the clouds in the east, it made the light seem like morning (this is looking north).
Now as sunset drew near, and we had word that it would be towards midnight or after before power was restored, I dug out the oil lamps that I keep ready on a shelf. One went in the kitchen ....
.... and one went on the desk in the living room.
Let me tell you, when you've had the AC going for literally months, it sure plays with your mind to suddenly have complete silence and dark after the sun goes down. You hear EVERYTHING. The house got stuffy, even with a window open. It got boring. Time went slowly. When it got too stuffy, I went outside and looked up at the night sky. No street lights, so that even though you can see stars with them on, it just seemed a little "extra" neat with the darkness all around. You could see the lights glowing from the nearby big town, and the hour-away big city. But in the immediate vicinity .... darkness and silence. You could hear a few generators here and there. But the only light I could see was the sliver of moon in the west, the lamp shining through our front window, and a couple of little solar yard lights we have by our lawn chairs. And the occasional vehicle lights as people were driving around. It made me think about living in the country, or "pioneer days."
Another thing all this darkness and silence did, was slow me down and calm me down. It made me realize just how frenzied we are in the world today with all our technology that we're hooked into constantly. I actually kind of enjoyed being quiet, slowed down, and UN-HOOKED FROM TECHNOLOGY.
Looking for something to do, I read a bit, thinking on the subject of "light" in the Bible, due to the circumstances.
Psalm 119:105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Matthew 5:14-16, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Then I tried some knitting, but both reading and knitting were kind of a trial by lamplight, because I didn't want to turn up the light too high and use too much oil and make the room hot. I was being "frugal." ha ha
We also had a little battery-powered LED "lantern," to take into the bathroom. Now picture this .... it's dark, power's off, you know it's off, you're carrying a little lantern because the power's off .... and when you go in the bathroom, you still hit the light switch. "Force of habit." haha!
We finally just basically relaxed in the living room, trying to catch a cool breeze through the window. Finally, about a quarter after midnight, here came the power back on. Thankful for the linemen who go out and fix these problems such as we had. I think another small town nearby was also out of power. The atmosphere immediately returned to "normal," and the oil lamps got put back away, and we went to bed ....
.... only to be awakened around 3 a.m. with another round of storms. I think one lightning bolt must've hit across the street. I happened to be awake, and there was a "FLASH!!!!" "CRAAACCKKKK!!!" No thunder, just that loud, sharp crack. Talk about setting your nerves on edge when you've been asleep! But it was worth it to get some good, soaking rain. Our gauge, after yesterday evening, early this morning, and into mid-morning, showed a total of 1.15". Praise the Lord for safe-keeping and for the rain. And for the power back on.
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