Thunder and Lightning

Here in Gig Harbor and Western Washington we do not have a lot of thunder and lightning storms during the year. We can usually count them on one hand the amount of times we do. In fact I would say in August over the years it has happened very few times; however, this week it has happened twice.

I have to say I should not be surprised since the summer of 2015 has been unusual summer. We have had more ninety degree days that I can ever remember. I am not sure how many we have had it total but more often than most summers. The ninety degree days have come in bunches this year. Normally the summer temperatures are in either the upper 70s or into the low 80s; we have had a few of those this year but not so often. I am sure most people here are not complaining about the temperatures for sure. The summers are always sunny and usually go through September. Also, October can be a very nice month as well; however, since this year has been unusual we can only guess what it will be like this year.

On Wednesday this week I went out for my usual morning walk. The temperatures were expected to be in the mid to upper 80s like most of this summer has been so I dressed accordingly to the weather no jacket just a light shirt. I was only into the walk for about five minutes when it started thundering. I thought at the time I wonder if we will have lightning as well. I was hoping that I would be safe but wasn’t sure at all. Probably a couple minutes into thinking about lightning there was a strike of lightning that I could see. There was a flash of lightning that occurred in front of me and another within five minutes. I kept on walking trusting that I would be OK. I could still hear the thunder but no more lightning. When I got to half way through my walk and turned to go back to my car it started raining. Though I was not wearing any rain gear at all I was fine with it. I had survived the lightning so the rain would be OK. It rained the rest of my walk which was about twenty minutes but I did not get that wet. I saw a couple ladies on the way back going to the direction I had just came from they were trying to stay dry in the trees. They said that they surprised by the thunder but were willing to go the distance of the trail which was about a mile long and then come back same way. They told me that they had been in the goodwill store and they had heard rumbling but thought just something was going on upstairs without the thought of thunder. Like I said we are not used to thunder and lightning so it was not surprising they had no idea like I had no idea when starting on the trail. I wanted this year when it began to be a year of adventure and having the thunder and lightning just added it for me.

I heard on the news, from people I know, and social media that Seattle and Tacoma along with the other small communities in the area got hit a lot worse than where I was on the trail. I would say that God protected me during that time. He has more plans for me than me getting hit by lightning. For example, I still have to continue writing this blog you would never know the rest of the story of my life.

The early morning I woke up to hearing thunder around 1 am and again 3 am and when I got up at 6 am. I could not see any lightning however checking the social media I saw reports and pictures of lightning happening around Seattle. I would say it is a good way for people to wake up in the morning. If you have a hard time getting up in the mornings I would say a lot different this morning. I am not sure about earlier but when I got up at 6 am it was raining very hard. The truth is we really need the rain though not the thunder and lightning. Actually I would say the lightning for sure. Since the grass has been really dry this summer the lightning could cause a lot of brush fires. I am sure I will see some of them reported. We already have had quite a few this summer.  Anyway I reported more occurrences that may happen over the next few weeks. It is amazing to think that kids will be looking to go back to school within the next few weeks. Time flies while you have a good time.