Wind and Rain and Lakes

    Last night/early this morning a huge thunder storm crashed down on us here in Charlevoix- the rains were torrential, very high winds, incredible thunder and lightening! I was lying in bed listening to the elements try to batter their way into my tiny log cabin and thought about how weather defines the places I've lived. Wyoming was cold and wind-- winds that blew constantly off of the Great Plains and have been known to drive individuals mad. They simply never stop. Alabama was heat and tornadoes. I was 5 years old there and refused to watch The Wizard of Oz for fear that the mere viewing of a storm like that would somehow bring one down upon us.

   Delaware- the summer heat of Alabama with bone-chilling damp winters. The summer storms there were incredible nestled as we were between the Atlantic and the Chesapeake Bay. My father and I would sit on lawn chairs in the garage and watch the lightening bugs blink in time with the fingers of electricity that would illuminate the sky.

  Orlando,Florida- hot, humid, daily summer thunder storms to the point that they became almost passe'. The sunshine was monotonous- I long for that now! Being centrally located Hurricanes and Tropical Storms were not a danger to us, rather an interesting occurrence.

  Northern Michigan - The Big Lake (Lake Michigan) is a mirror for us- it generates and reflects our local weather-- gray choppy waters means bad weather ahead. Clear, calm,blue will bring us beautiful skies with no winds... Storms along the coast where we are are fairly rare, we get a few, but nothing terribly outrageous. Even winter- which can last up to 9 months of the year- is an endurance test of bitter cold and gray skies. Blizzards can offer a bit of excitement-sad but true.

  Being a Taurus- the consummate Earth Sign, I too reflect the weather and the skies. I swear I am 'solar powered' and can suffer debilitating depression when the sun is gone for weeks on end. I revel in sunny, warm weather; storms of any kind are emotional events for me-from exhilarating to terror-inducing. There are places I will not live due to their natural weather patterns or lack of water- deserts, the Plains,  most of the interior mountain ranges. The weather and the land is too severe with little to no water to buffer and soften it...

  Where am I going with this--I dunno. My handful of readers get treated to my mental musings every now and then-- hope you all don't mind :-)