Yeah, you can say that again. WEATHER! Are we ever having it, and then some...
First of all, we are not in Montana, but we are definitely in big sky country. The sky here is a novel, while the sky at home in New England, or even in Illinois, is a paragraph in a short story. At any given moment here, we can see many different chapters in the novel, each playing out in a small segment of the sky. Some chapters of the sky are about the past, others about the future. Some chapters are violent and frightening, while others are peaceful. It has everything: suspense, drama, resolution, foreshadowing, even character development in a way. Unfolding all around us, all at the same time. One sunset happens in every single part of the sky. I can't just point and shoot, without a panoramic camera. I may need to get one.
So, lately the big action of the novel comes to meet us where we are, on the northern edge of the Black Hills. We're in a weather story now that goes like this: Clear sky in the morning, puffy clouds start developing about noon, and then in the afternoon the chapters start piling up around us. By evening, we are surrounded by massive cloud dramas, (I can't find words big enough to describe them) that start to drop down on us. "Severe thunderstorm warnings" is what the National Weather Service calls them. We get wind, rain and for two nights in a row, blasts of huge hail.
We attended the Black Hills Bluegrass Festival two nights ago. The weather started in early dramatic chapter development. By the last set, we all hurried under an enclosed shelter, and the biggest hail storm ever beat down on the roof so hard the band had to stop for about 15 minutes to wait out the deafening sound. When we thought it couldn't get any louder, it kept escalating. People were literally covering their ears. It was apocalyptic. We drove back to the RV through another hailstorm, but when we got home there was no evidence that there had been a storm here at all. Dry as a bone, just 20 minutes away.
This morning it is sparkling clear and we are headed out to drive Spearfish Canyon. I'll try to take some pictures.
Heh, heh. Welcome to the West. I've been back East and have spent a bit of time in the big cities. And, even living in Oklahoma City, I feel hemmed in by civilization. Jo and I were raised in the Panhandle of Oklahoma and out there we lived with pretty flat to gently rolling hills. You are right about the panorama.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the hail, but at least your RV didn't suffer any of it.