Thunder and Lightning

A house-shaking clap, no, crash of thunder got me out of bed last night, thinking of my computer.  After I shut it down, the violence of the storm tempted me out on the back porch with my camera and tripod.  Kara was working in the guest room upstairs, and the light shone out the door onto the trees close to the porch, but beyond, everything was pitch black.

Countless small flashes of lightning briefly illuminated the scene, especially Kara's white fence and windows in the distance.

Many brighter flashes clearly lit up the whole farm, including the poor pigs who were rushing back and forth along the fence (although I didn't actually catch them in a picture).  This picture fascinates me because the brightly glowing green grass is in complete contrast to the dark, stormy sky.

And then there were the really scary flashes that lit everything up like broad daylight, accompanied by pretty intense sound effects.  Although they didn't send me inside, I did wonder what would happen to me, standing on the soaking wet porch in bare feet, if the lightning hit close by.  You can see the wind thrashing the branch behind the porch pillar into a blur.  What you probably can't see in this small photo is the horses grazing out in the open in the Back Pasture.  That didn't make me happy, but I sure wasn't going to go running out there and do anything about it!

The drama finally petered off, making thoughts of bed more interesting than taking pictures, so I called it a night.  Not bad for late night entertainment!