Autumn Has Arrived

If I were in Texas right now, I'd be running for the closet in the middle of the house. Holy crap, that cloud looks bad.

But I'm in Seattle, and I've been here long enough to know that this is merely the First Creepy Storm of the Season. I knew it was coming, yet it still puts me in awe.

If you could see further west, over the water, you'd see that it's just solid black now and pouring the rain. But just a few minutes ago, you could see the sunset over the mountains and the sky was pink.

I love living here.

One October day, a few years ago, Steve and I sat out on our balcony, facing west, and literally watched the first storm of the season move in over the span of two hours. We started out in shorts and t-shirts because it was warm and sunny, but then the wind started so we each threw on a fleece. You could smell the air change and feel the weight of the storm. The clouds got thicker, the lightning started up and we could hear thunder rumbling over the water. The temperature dropped about ten degrees, so we grabbed blankets and curled back up in the lawn chairs. But we sat out there until the rain drove back us inside.

It was beautiful.

And now, it's autumn again. The storm tells me so.