My sister came to visit this week, which was a good excuse to get out of the house and enjoy the best of Idaho’s great outdoors. We took a picnic lunch up to the local mountains, and soaked up vista after vista of snaggletooth peaks and blue-green lakes. A more relaxing and idyllic way to spend the day I cannot imagine. The gentle lapping of the wavelets against the white sand beach, and the smell of the pines and sound of birds singing was absolutely nirvana. What a great way to spend the day — nature at her finest!
We also decided to absorb a bit of the Bard and attended the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, which is staged in a lovely outdoor amphitheatre. Again, we enjoyed a lovely picnic (dinner this time) whilst being entertained by the company of fine actors. The evening was warm, and the crowd festive. All was well until after intermission, when the actors became somewhat difficult to hear over the increasing rumbles of thunder and cracks of lightning. My sister looked a bit apprehensive, and I pointed out to her that the skies were clear, and this was just a bit of heat-related convection-induced thunder. Nothing to worry about.
Fifteen minutes later, the skies had clouded over, and the lightning and thunder became almost continuous. I kept glancing at my watch, wondering if the play would end before the storm broke on top of us. People began to leave, and we decided to do the same. Driving home, the lightning surrounded us on all sides, a wallopalooza of a storm. (no, I did not take these photos, they were taken by locals with much better luck and skill than me and posted on our local news station’s website: http://www.ktvb.com/results?search=site&keywords=lightning+storm&searchbutton=Go )
When we reached the road that leads to where I live, the streets were covered in smoke, and fire and emergency vehicles were parked along the roadside. Less than five minutes after walking in the door of my house, the thunderclaps were directly overhead, and the skies cut loose with pounding rain. Rowan curled herself up into my lap and refused to move, and the noise was so loud we had no alternative but to sit and listen to the storm do its thunda-rhumba thing all around us. Wowie zowie, what a ride — also nature at her finest!
Nature’s presentations usually trump human efforts. But you had two good shows in one day.