The aftermath and smallness

There was a terrible storm here this week. Lighting filled the sky, seemingly tearing the very fabric of the atmosphere as it lanced downward, lighting the skies with bright flashes of white. Thunder claps roared, a cacophony of sharp cracks and explosive booms that rolled away into the distance only to be replaced by another ear-splitting crack of sound seconds later.

My windows rattled, the house itself at times, and my poor little cat Cleo was frightened...she came up to where my head lay on the pillow and burrowed into the covers and snuggled there for the night. I didn't mind.

It was primal, raw and powerful, a battle of elemental forces overhead, the winner always in question. The wind, the pelting rain, lightning or thunder...which would prevail...Or did those elements combine wanting to beat the earth into submission, or to obliterate the infestation that is humanity from the surface of the planet?

Aftermath

I took these shots the next day, brooding clouds, less fearsome than the ferocity of the night before; not angry, but surly. There was a stiff breeze too but not enough to make my walk unpleasant.

The Bureau of Meteorology reported over 65,000 lighting strikes and the State Emergency Service were called out to hundreds of damaged homes, fallen trees, downed power lines and flash flooding, the aftermath of natures wrath, and as the city licked its wounds I walked on the deserted beach revelling in the aftermath of that storm.

Smallness

I find beauty in storms despite their destructive nature. I like that nature continues to do what it does oblivious to humankind and without care for them. It just is. Unapologetic.

I have been fortunate enough to be in isolated wilderness places in storms such as the one I mention, it's exciting, and despite making me feel a little nervous, flooding can ruin a person's day pretty quickly, I like the feeling of smallness. Ferocious storms have a way of making a person feel insignificant in comparison to the forces at play and that nature calls up so easily. It brings perspective to one's life.

Human beings, in their hubris, generally feel like the owners of this planet and all it encompasses but the truth is we are just temporary inhabitants, just like the dinosaurs were before us. Like them, we'll be gone long before the planet is and that's how it should be; it's the nature of things...the nature of nature. All things end.

I enjoyed my walk, despite the too-strong-breeze, and am glad I took the time to be there in that time and place. My photos aren't great, I'm yet to figure out how to make blue-grey days look interesting, but that's ok, the value was in the walk.

Have you ever been in the middle of a ferocious or destructive storm? I've been in a couple cyclones that weren't any fun, have you? Do you like thunder and lightning or do you fear it? How about the wind and rain? I believe there's beauty to be found in it, nature just being herself, do you? Feel free to make some comments below, your engagement is welcome and I always reply.