Every now and then nature takes my breath away, burns an image in my mind and leaves me standing with very few words in my vocabulary worthy of the moment. I had many such moments growing up in the countryside of Waupaca County. We were up on a hill and could see the woods up close to the north and five miles of farmland and forests to the south. After I moved out I still visited often. One weekend I watched a large cloud building in the afternoon. Now most clouds move on, but this one stayed. I can’t remember how long, perhaps five hours. It started before dinner, and billowed like a giant smokestack until after dark. When darkness came, the cloud that was already a mysterious life form over the landscape revealed itself as a tortured entity. It began to glow inside with steady flashes of lightning, boiling light that occasionally lashed out at the ground beneath, while the stars minded their own business above. I’ve never seen anything like this since and I hope I never do, because some things should only be experienced once, so they can turn to myth and magic.
No comments:
Post a Comment