Sheets of Lightning

other of nature's wonders
... a coneflower from my garden ...

I know not to ascribe the power of storms to the beauty of God.  I used to find pleasure in that idea – finding God in nature.  Then a philosophy student challenged my idea saying that the power of nature causes as much grief to mankind as it does in its nurturing capacity.  I hated losing that old belief.  So when I am in the midst of a storm now, I know not to find God there.  Still I can say that all of the systems of the earth that bring me the show of lightning can fill me with awe about beauty even as I feel the underbelly of sorrow that lightning can bring.  I don’t want forest fires that will be reported tomorrow.  I don’t want human death that lightning can cause.  But all of that is going to occur, in any event.  So while I turn my total attention to the sheet lightning, I can at least feel my own insignificance in the worldly power it manifestation.

Last night’s sheet lightning first came into the periphery of my vision while Bonnie and I were viewing a new-to-us Netflix show.  Needing to bring ourselves down from being intensely involved in our day, we tried to find a Netflix series, both worthy of viewing and one we haven’t seen.  That is a hard job, having used this technique of powering down from the day for over 4 months.  There is not that much new to see.  Bonnie picked a Chanz-Eberts 5 star rated series and we began to view, letting go of the tensions of the day in our­­­ bodies, me commenting idly as though I were getting ready to review the series. 

Mmm, I began to notice: early gratuitous sex (not necessary, but a viewing hook, I thought); a cave setting that looked suspiciously more Hollywood than natural; the introduction of series characters whose names I could not remember, but to whom I knew I would be returning … and then the sheet lightning flashing through the night sky became more interesting than “Death”, the series we were watching.  I could see the sheet lightening flashing  in the south, the south-east, the south-west, maybe only 20 seconds between each time it might cover the sky.  I was no longer making notes in my head about movie techniques.  Now the power of electrical impulses was in my head, long past when I crawled into bed, the lightning still in the sky.  Now I was viewing it in the north, the north east, the north west.    Usually I shut my eyes at this moment when my head hits the pillow.  But tonight, I tried to make a sleep-switch:  go to sleep with my eyes open, watching through the bedroom window, the lightning.  Grabbing that last joy for me that occurs when I am surrounded by the majestic power of sheet lightning.

The next morning, I see on Facebook that Tonia has capture the lightening on screen.  She provides 2 videos.  One is 20 seconds long and captures the lightning 3 times in that amount of time.  I was afraid to say,that in my post, that the lightning was coming that fast, lest I not be believed.

See Tonia at 

https://www.facebook.com/tonia.bates.79/videos/pcb.10163715621050570/10163715620305570/?type=3&theater 

and 

https://www.facebook.com/tonia.bates.79/videos/pcb.10163715621050570/10163715620575570/?type=3&theater

Arta