Wicked Skies

I feel lucky after last night's storm. I have been bemoaning my lack of a basement for 7 years. I like a basement, a safe little cave to crawl into. We had a basement in our house in Minnesota. When the weather forecast was iffy, we would just go sleep in the basement. Not roughing it, we had a duplicate master bedroom with a king size bed and a TV in our basement lair. All the comforts of home. Well, we did have to hike up half a flight of stairs to use the bathroom. The storm would pass through and no matter the damage, we were safe.

Not here. This building is made of cedar and has been here since the 60's. But, it is just a wood building. So, when I see the banner run across the screen on the TV, I pay attention. Yesterday, though, I discovered it was a free Showtime weekend, so I had the DVR in overdrive, taping two shows at once. I was in my own little world in my sewing room listening to an audio book. He who is addicted to talk radio was at work, so it was just me and my furry trio. I had reached a point in the dress I was sewing to cut around some decorative stitching and decided to watch TV while I did so.

There is no window to look out in the sewing room, so the first indication I had of a storm was the dark sky. Wicked dark, I should say. I looked at the clock, wondering just how long I had been sewing, but it was still early. I locked up the store and kept an eye on the clouds swirling about. The dogs were anxious and my ears started popping. Oscar set up a little mournful howl and Wall-E whined, while Emmy walked in circles. It got darker and we all sat in the hallway together as the rain came down and the thunder and lightning sounded. I could hear the wind whistling, too. It stopped after a very short time, maybe 10 minutes or less. I noticed that my pants were wet when I got up .......... dog pee. Emmy has a little bladder control issue when she is nervous.

About half an hour later, everything was bathed in a weird orange glow. It was like looking through tinted safety glasses. Did anyone else see it?