THIS MAJESTICAL ROOF

I love to watch the rain. Lightning, too. And clouds moving fast. It's fascinating.

We had a bad flood here two summers ago, though, so when the rain goes on for hours I get a little nervous now.

(decorum?)

I love the speed of the (normal) thunderstorm. Just moving about through the day, and suddenly fury and violence and flying water from nature's sky, and then it just blows away and the normal day comes back. I miss that when I'm living in places without regular T-storms...

I love sun, hot sun. My mom always told me that the sun heals your soul, the heat penetrates all the pain and makes your heart and blood warm with love again. If I could live in constant heat I think I would.
Yup, I'm not a happy camper in winter and where I live there is a lot of it!! Yuck.

I'm one of those who loves a good storm. The last good thunderstorm in my area happened a few months ago, shortly after the temps began to soar into the 90's. I was raking the leaves in my back yard, miserable from the heat, sweating, weak, cursing the heat and the massive amounts of tree-trash. Then a beautiful gust of wind that felt ice-cold rushed through, then another gust, and then it became constant. The temperature dropped twenty degrees in ten minutes, and (not to be corny or anything ) I felt so revitalized and all-powerful, and I stood out in the middle of the yard until the rain became too heavy...and had a couple of celebratory glasses of wine in front of the open door after moving inside. Thinking about it, I can still feel it.

We are supposed to have massive amounts of rain this weekend, and after months of nothing but oppressive heat and only smatterings of rain here and there, I might have to have some champagne on hand for the occasion!

Eileen, I feel that way about the sun in the spring -- it is healing. It's so great to just sit out and thaw your bones after winter is over.

LibertyD, thats exactly how I feel... Winter is gross and dead. Everything is dormant. but when the sun shine's in spring all your winter worries melt away and you feel life "spring".

Eileen, I totally disagree. I love the cold. Love to feel invigorated after a walk in the nippy air. I love snow. On the other hand, I can't stand heat. Absolutely hate it. I dread the approach of summer, and I mumble and groan until it's over.

Different strokes . . .

Gonna have to side with Roberta on this one.....

Have lived in Florida since 1978 ~ and I'm still not used to the heat. Don't care to get used to it either.

I LIVE for our winters here, humble as they may be.

One of these days, when my son is old enough to take care of himself, I'm headin north. Canada is in my sights.

Nice storm, Liberty!

I don't understand this picking and choosing. To me, it's all good. I'm from the Pacific NW where we're told that the rain is oppressive, but ask nearly any native and they'll say we like the rain, hard, soft, driving or mist. They can describe the muted colors of winter, the several shades of gray in the sky, how it outlines the mountains and sets off the dark blue gray saltwater. If they're a nut like me, they'll maintain that gray even brings out the natural beauty of the evergreens. (Love the one you're with.)

Weather in particular, nature in general, is my religion. I can't do the traditional thing, but being a part of this universe, and weather is so symptomatic of our perception of our world, gives me great joy and a sense of connectiveness. I adore weather, watch the weather channel to see what is happening. Just recently, our weather patterns and movement were 'stuck', and a most negative experience it was for so many. (Ask France). In eastern NC we have been in a kind of Bermuda high for quite a while now, and I yearn for a tropical storm, depression, hurricane, anything at all to make the air move.

Thanks to my kitties, who love to get me up at 5 or 5:30, I have been up and enjoying that hour. Love it. Since I burn the candle at both ends, watching Mars coming and going, my sleep suffers and I pay the price. But no matter.

I adore weather and dawn, and before dawn.

I've been thinking about this some more.
I know that part of what I like about the blanket of snow is the sound that Setanta described. In fact, I'd say I love it.

Another part of it that makes me delirious is the blinding whiteness.

I love the high contrast of white white snow in the moonlight - with sharp, dark shadows.

I'm not a fan of grey in my environment. I love the high contrast of autumn leaves - especially if there are a few brilliant green evergreens in the mix. I keep a 'hot' garden - those cool, white, blue-green gardens are very stylish - but give me red and hot pink roses; orange and burgundy and hot yellow daylilies; vivid mexican hat plants - give me wild contrast. Even pale pink against hot pink makes me very happy. Especially if there are some deep green leaves in the area.

The thing I miss most, going from the NE to the Se, is the grayness of snow, sleet and ice. Yes, sleet and ice occur from time to time in the SE, but not very often. But looking into the sky, and seeing, knowing, that snow is coming...that is so wondrous. And watching it fall, starting with the tentative first small guys, and then, gathering strength in humidity and coldness, the main players arrive. I was present during the blizzard of '96, and would not have missed it for anything. There is nothing, but nothing, except for the occasional hurricane, that compares in the SE with decent and regular weather of the NE.

Nice, Sumac. The glowing light before sunrise is hard to beat.

Beth, friends tell me they love taking their sleigh out on snowy winter nights when there's a full moon. No need of headlights, they're all bundled up and the horses know the way. (Hey!) The glittering snow covers everything and the only thing you hear is the schush of the skis and the padding of horse hooves. When the sleigh stops out in the middle of the woods... it's like the world has stopped, too, a black and white world. They keep telling me to come over and try it for myself.

I enjoy all the grays but I love those hot colors too -- I like to plant red, pink & purple flowers together. You'd be hard-pressed to find a natural landscape that I don't like. I do especially LOVE the autumn. That's when we're likely to hike in the mountains. This summer has been hard here, lots of plants faded early, so I'm looking forward to the change. The tang of ripe apples off the trees, that crispiness in the air, even the smell of the decaying leaves. We have more color in the PNW than you might suspect since we're the evergreen state. Autumn in the Cascade mountains is nice. We had a magical moment a few years ago. We were on our way back from a hike and headed to our car camp at White River. There's a pull-over place & parking lot on the east side of Mt. Rainier called Sunrise Point, known for its wonderful views of the sky -- it's sort of perched high on the flanks of The Mountain and has a bigger than 180 degree view from north to south. It's wonderful for moon rises and great for star-watching There's usually someone with a telescope there every evening that it's open. So we'd stopped and were standing there in the twilight and alpenglow when we hear elk bugling -- in the valley directly below. We were absolutely transfixed by the sound and the moment. All of us, even our kids who were young then, remember. We've gone back but never managed a repeat.

The changing seasons
When I lived in California, I never had to use an alarm clock to rouse me in time for work. I always covered my bedroom windows in a way that would allow sunlight to land on my pillow. That way I awoke to the sun's "welcome to a new day" instead of an annoying alarm. Really nice.

Now, for the first time in my life, I live in an area that has defined seasons. Moving from the San Francisco Bay Area to Albuquerque, New Mexico last year introduced me to the habbit of looking at the sky for signs of weather changes.

As my one year anniversary in October approaches, I've experienced frequent thunder and lightning storms in the summer time, and light snow falls in the winter. Of course, there is the summer heat. I had clothing for everything except the intense heat, so my closet has become more crowded.

All of these seasonal events are a big change for a native Californian. Gradually as I become accustomed to these seasonal changes, I will become more attuned to the subtle nuances surrounding me.

Maybe I will even get to explore the State if I ever stop unpacking boxes. I bought a smaller electric scooter that will fit in the trunk of my car along with an electrically operated lift to get it in and out of the trunk. This gives me the freedom to go places once I arrive at a desination that I didn't have before. HOORAY!

I hear thunder in the distance right now 4 pm (M) and the sky is darkly clouded over. A real cloud-burst just started with some badly needed rain.

P.S. It rained hard off and on through last night. WOOHOO! Now watch the weeds sprout.

BumbleBeeBoogie

Funny that you mention the increase in your wardrobe, BBB. People who live places with four full seasons definitely need more clothes. I even have different boots for different types of snow. Need 'em. What works for deep, fluffy snow does NOT work for hard-pack, and neither works on slushy snow.

When your annual temperature range is -40F to 105F, you need a wide range of clothing.

Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

This is really flat country here, where I moved to on May 27th. Off to the west and southwest, where the weather comes from, there is no wind break, no tree lines. So usually, if anything at all is happening in the air, when I get up early I can open the front and back doors and let the house air out. But the air has been still recently, and I don't like it. Almost 100 degrees, humid, dead air, with poor air quality alerts. Not good.

I have an avatar of crimson red sumacs, ready in the waiting for a fall change of pace. THe dolphin won't mind.

Sounds lovely sumac.
I can't wait to see it.

Rose
Rose, welcome to Able2Know, glad you've joined us.

---BumbleBeeBoogie

Thank you BumbleBeeBoogie

I apologize for taking so long to come back here.
Appreciate everyone's friendliness very much.