Thunder and lightening...

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

I'll be the first to admit that I've turned into somewhat of a weather wimp
since I moved to Washington (nearly 20 years ago.)  I ride in whatever
weather happens to occur since the rain here is usually fairly light and
there's not much in the way of snow or blazing hot/humid days.  Today was a
bit of an exception!!

Last night the thunder and lightening (and pouring rain) hit hard!  Shook
the house and lit up the dark sky.  It was a storm reminiscent of my 30
years in Minnesota, except for the fact that I didn't have horses or ride
when I lived there.  The weather was better today...kind of cloudy but
since thunder and lightening are pretty rare out here, I grabbed Blaze and
headed out for a ride about 1pm, figuring I'd probably get rained on but
that's no big deal.  I get rained on a lot so I'm prepared and pretty used
to it.  About 3 or so I could hear thunder off in the hills so I started
heading back towards the truck.  About a half hour later (and half way
back) it started to POUR!!  Now the thunder and lightening were a lot
closer and we were still a ways from the truck.  We "beat feet" (didn't
even stop to put on my jacket) and made it back as quickly as possible.  I
managed to convince Blaze to hop into the trailer into the back slot with
all of his clothes on...but not without several seconds of hesitation since
he was sure I had totally lost my mind and completely forgotten the normal
procedure!!  It didn't help that I was a bit anxious to get him out of the
pouring rain and into the trailer that had rubber wheels and not steel
shoes.  I could just imagine us getting struck by lightening standing out
there in the middle of the parking lot!!

What do all of you do that have these kind of "Toad Strangler" storms
complete with huge amounts of thunder and lightening?  My trip back to the
trailer was on both trail thru the woods (LOTS of very tall trees) and on
the road, out in the open.  Most of the time there was a choice as to which
way to take.  When you get caught in that kind of storm, which way is
better to go...the longer way thru the trees or the shorter way out in the
open on the road?

It was all fairly scary...not to mention icky being totally soaked and cold!

Sue



sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.