Friday, April 3, 2015

Cloudbursts

I do enjoy a good cloudburst. Especially in the summer time. Not the kind of cloudburst that I'm about to have around this house since two of my four daughters have moved back home. No, the cloudbursts I love are the ones provided by Mother Nature. 

I am known to get lost in my thoughts. Hardly a day passes that doesn't find me visiting my childhood. Those are some of my best memories. Besides my college ones. Ha!

But stormy days are the best days to get lost in my thoughts. A good cloudburst will take my mind back to my childhood. I have loved storms since I was a child. I mostly remember the cloudbursts of summer which came along every afternoon bringing sheets of rain, booming thunder, and crackling lightning. Those were the days before central air conditioning so our windows were open and the winds that accompanied those summer cloudbursts caused the sheers hanging in front of the windows to billow out like sails and then float, slowly back to their original position before the next wind came through the screens and repeated the hypnotizing process. If the wind was particularly strong, the sheers would rush straight out into the room and then float back down—until we rushed around and closed the windows because the next thing to come rushing into the rooms was the wind driven rain. Some days we had to rush outside to get the clothes off the clothesline before they got wet but, when there were linens on the line, I would stand between the sheets as they blew all around me and breathe in their clean, fresh air aroma. The smell that was left behind when the storms left was so fresh and clean and grassy (and no matter what they say, no one has ever been able to reproduce this smell in a fragrance). These summer wonders only last a half hour or so, but they were quite enjoyable and have certainly provided me with treasured, sensory memories.  

I'll leave you with one of my favorite rain songs. Because it's Neil. And who doesn't love Neil? :)



This is Day 3 of the A-Z Challenge!

16 comments:

  1. Oh, how I remember dashing out to take clothes off the line when the rain was coming! Hurry, hurry!!! Jeans took forever to dry and then were stiff as a board! LOL Those sheets did smell so good, though. And there is also something about a lightly starched and ironed pillow case....but I am SO thankful for wrinkle-free linens now!! Summer rains....priceless.

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    1. Hahahaha! Jeans were stiff as a board! I doubt I would hang the wash out these days. Too many allergies. But the memories are wonderful. :)

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  2. I love the changes in weather. Lately our cloudbursts have come with thunder and lightning as I live in the NW. But as a kid I lived on the California beaches. I remember walking the beach with a friend and a cloudburst hit us in the middle of a long walk. Only the cloudburst was like God opened his fire extinguisher on us so the clouds opened up and it poured. By the time we finished our walk and then headed home it looked as if we had gone swimming in our clothes. But we LOVED it! ;-) I enjoy your blog as I can SO relate.

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    1. I do too! We don't have many changes down here in the low-country of SC but, when I was growing up in the upstate, we did. And I miss the seasonal changes. We do have some cloudbursts from time to time though and I still enjoy those. I love getting caught in them while walking too but my little dog doesn't. :)

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  3. I too remember having to run outside to bring in the laundry before it got too wet. I like a sudden downpour. It can be fun getting caught in it.

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    1. I like them too. Whenever I get caught in one, I can't help but start laughing. My little dog doesn't laugh though. He makes me pick him up. :)

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  4. I LOVE the way the world smells right before a huge storm. The sky darkening, the smell in the air...then the first drops begin....and it is just like washing away all of the things that need to just be washed fresh so life can begin again. Loved this post....really helped me remember some great storms as a kid. We used to run around outside all of the time during storms....so fun!

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    1. I do too. The smell is the first thing I notice every time. So glad you liked the post! Thanks!

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  5. Now, gf, where have you been? (giggles)----I love to hang up sheets on the line. I have missed you....Blessings

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    1. I've been writing over at Empty Nest and teaching little kids all about e-waste and computer science. :) So good to be back! Thank you!

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  6. Reading this took my mind back to some of my favorite stormy weather. I'm one of the few people I know who enjoy a good storm - I'm happy to share that with you, too!

    Jessica
    2015 A to Z Blogger
    Visions of Other Worlds

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    1. I don't know too many others who share our love of storms. Most just gripe about it. How can they not see the beauty of it? :)

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  7. I'm a storm lover also. I do remember running around to close everything up and then sitting by the window and watching it pass by. The best part was opening it all back up to let in the clean breeze and playing in the puddles wasn't too bad either...

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    1. Absolutely! And I will still walk through a puddle. I've even been known to stomp in them. Even at my age. LOL

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  8. Oh how I know that feeling when we rush outside to get the clothes off the line before they get too wet from the rain, I do like how it feels and smells after a storm

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  9. I still love listening to storms. I'm always transporter back to a simpler, happier time. :)

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Welcome, friends! Please spew forth some wisdom for me. I'm quite certain I need it!