In the venn diagram of my husband and Dad, right in the middle between the two is 'weather' and 'storms'. Since Dad's usually too ill to move far - bed to couch is about it - they've watched a far share of Youtube on storm chasing, particularly in America where Dad's also fascinated by photographers driving cross country to capture the perfect storm.

With the unseasonably warm Spring weather on the weekend (a real concern - we've had barely any rain and it's meant to be a hot summer) everyone was watching a storm move over in the late afternoon. Jamie and I joked we were going storm chasing, and to our suprise, Dad said he'd come along, grabbing his camera on the way out. Remember Dad's lungs are fucked, his legs are sticks, and he's very, very unwell. But if he says he's coming, we oblige. He's got such a shitty quality of life at the moment so a little adventure could make his day.

We first went local, watching the clouds and light play over Point Danger in Torquay. I love this photo of Jamie and Dad - they spent some time pointing at clouds like the storm chasers we were joking they were. Every photo I steal of Dad could be the last. I'm intensely aware of that.

After looking at the radar we decided to move on to Point Addis to the west, a thin and narrow headland jutting out to sea where you get some amazing views both up and down the coast. Jamie parked the car where Dad could look to the west where the storm was, and we walked down the path toward the beach - a bit of a steep descent for Dad. There's no way we thought he could walk down there.

It was beautiful watching the clouds change so quickly. Suddenly there was lightening bolts shooting across the sky from sea to cloud and Dad is right there on the path with us. What the actual! I couldn't believe it, but didn't want to make a big deal. He's a grown man and if he wants to give it a go, well, that's on him. We spent a while trying to capture the lightening strikes.

I think this is my favourite photo. I was resting the camera on a fence to try to get it as sharp as I could. I wished I had more time to think about it, but storms move fast! The richness of colour in this photo is just spectacular.

I did manage to get one with a lightning strike - I couldn't see I'd done it til I got home and projected it on the television! It made me want to go chasing more lightening - what a buzz!

After a short time things started to change. I joked to Jamie that he'd have to sling Dad on his back to run up the path, but Dad was already moving, recognising the storm was going to be on us any moment. The town of Angelsea, where you could see the houses on the hill, had utterly disappeared. Jamie and I lingered to snap a few more photos then hightailed it up after Dad along with a couple and their dog who had the same idea as us - run! There were a couple of teenagers on the beach and we laughed they better find some shelter quick!

As we came up the path, about 50 metres from the car, I felt something big hit my leg - hail. It was big - about nearly the size of a golfball. I shouted and everyone ran for the cars. I was in and Jamie was pushing Dad in the front seat and it was thundering hard against the car. The other couple reversed out hard and Jamie followed then, spinning his wheels on the wet asphalt as he did so. I was shouting for Jamie to go down where there were some trees and a toilet block to hide in the lee away from the worst of it but we were seriously worried about damage to the new car!

Dad was pumped - it was pretty awesome seeing him aglow with the adrenalin of the moment. His chest hurt like hell but it's amazing what the body can do even when dying. I think we made his week taking him storm chasing - he certainly rang my sister and a couple of friends to tell them all about it.

As we enjoyed a glass of red, updates and messages were coming through from across the state where little pockets recieved varying degrees of storm. Most spectacular was the hail coming from Angelsea - below is a friend's picture of their front yard, and of the golf course - pure white. The hail had shattered the lazer light on my friend's pagoda.

As Dad said, we'll be getting more of these storms as the weather patterns change and get more intense. I just wish he was around to chase them with us.

With Love,

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