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06/13/2006: "An Evening with Taranus"
music: God of Thunder - KISSmood: Exhilarated
Traveling to New Orleans this week, I left the squalls of Tropical Storm Alberto behind in the Florida Gulf coast. A hot, humid day in the Big Easy with a 0% chance of rain set the stage for a record high of 96. As the setting sun painted its departing masterpiece on the few clouds that lingered, I relaxed after work with a fine cigar while enjoying the view.
In the twilight remaining, a distant rumble gathered my attention. Gazing to the north,
I was surprised to see a darkening band on the horizon, brightened by an occasional flash of distant lightening. I chuckled at remembering the local weatherman's prediction of continuing dryness, as it appeared higher powers had other plans.
Stepping inside my partner's FEMA trailer, I saw the thunderstorm warning message flash across the TV screen, accompanied by the incessant beeping. Turning off my computers, disconnecting power and dsl cables, I ventured back outside.
The band of clouds once distant on the horizon now covered a third of the early evening sky, as the lightening and thunder began to flash and roar in earnest.
Taranus, the ancient Celtic divine personification of thunder (literally "Thunderer"), was on the move tonight, and within minutes, the front, evidently a cast off of Alberto's feeder bands, covered the sky.
As the hard rain and light hail began, I positioned myself in the alcove of the driveway and watched as bolt after bolt shot from up high on the clouds to hit the ground below, followed by almost instantaneous claps of thunder. I imagined the shock and awe that my ancient ancestors must have surely experienced in the humbling presence of such mighty forces of nature.
For the next thirty minutes, I paid conscious tribute to one of the most exciting displays of celestial power I had ever witnessed. A veteran of both hurricanes and tornadoes, those past experiences paled in comparison to the intensity of the heavenly events unfolding around me.
Taranus continued his ride across the evening sky towards the open waters of the Gulf and as the ancient one departed, I said a prayer in his honor, silently thankful for the improficiency of my local weathermen.