Lightning flashes wildly

It’s the witching hour and lightning flashes wildly filling the room with bright bursts of light. The thunder bursts shake the house as each explosion sounds off above me as if the very storm was focused exactly above the roof. The wind and pounding rain are loud against the windows, which muffle as much of the noise as possible. Each lightning flash is in synch with the loud static coming across the radio I leave on through the night. I am up as usual, the sentinel that never sleeps through the night; conditioned over the years by call outs, late night travels for work and for sports. The heat and humidity have returned to remind us that it is still summer and that the cool winds of the north are held at bay a little longer. No one else seems affected by the noise and light show going on outside. The safety of the house assures all but me that everything will be ok as soon as the storm passes. I have woken up many mornings to find this not true. The morning light sometimes reveals the destructive force of nature from wind, rain, snow, and ice. I respect the storms and wait for the phone to ring. So far, all passes without event. I return to bed to be suddenly woken again in what seems like minutes. “Hurry boys!” I shout to wake my son’s. “It’s time to go play hockey” The storm is over; the morning air is thick and already heavy with humidity. To the rink we go, into the darkened cavern of the rink to watch the boys play some pickup hockey with other players who also have survived the night to pass, shoot, skate, and score! All around us the storm is gathering again to set up another day of stormy weather. It’s storming again. I listen to the crackle of static coming across in the background of my local am station. Thousand of customers around us are without power as the line crews work to repair damage from the storms which still threaten to create more outages. It’s still muggy out. I hope the rink still has power. We shall see tomorrow. I retreat to my room to continue working on a project that pushes the limits of procrastination to new heights.” It was a dark and stormy night….” No that’s been used before. Hmmmmm?