Stormy Nights

Stormy nights are not necessarily conducive to writing. For the last three days and nights we've been whopped by Tropical Storm Lee here on the Florida Panhandle. Lightning strikes, thunder so heavy it sounded like we were under siege, deluged by rain. Though I have to admit we needed all that rain since we've been under drought conditions for ever so long.

Tornado Watches and Tornado Warnings are a bit unnerving, particularly when a tornado or water spout is spotted nearby. Two sleepless nights in a row. The first night I did some writing. The second night I couldn't think clearly. Too tired even to read, which is saying a lot.

Now I'm instantly reminded of why we evacuate in the face of a hurricane. The winds, rain, lightning, thunder, are not particularly fun. I love the clean air after the fact, even love the sight and sound of the rain, but the rest can be a bit much. Tropical storms, being less than hurricanes, we just hunker down and endure.

My dogs, Shani and Dude, finally decided that it is okay to pee and poop in the rain. Dude, the pup, even found that playing in the rain can be fun. But this morning the winds are so strong even a dog might blow away.

I think the storm blew away most of our tourists here on the Panhandle. There's news footage of tourists complaining of not being able to swim in the gulf and having sand blown in their eyes. Ah! Sorry, but we can't schedule perfect weather here for holiday weekends.

I have to get back to my writing. More coffee is what I need to get my brain kicked into gear. Two cups isn't enough, so I'm going for three. At some point the light is going to click on and I'll be back in the game. In the meantime, I'm watching The Weather Channel, CNN and HLN and seeing that we got off easy here on the Florida Panhandle. No real flooding here. Only "baby tornadoes," so very little damage. Lots of leaves and tree limbs to pick up. In a few days we'll be back to wanting more rain. Go figure.