2008-07-05 - 6:09 a.m.

everyone in the city watches a thunderstorm together

yesterday evening, my husband and i went to the fairgrounds and spread a blanket on the grass. there were thousands of other people waiting to see the fireworks show, but instead, we all watched the clouds roil into a cumulonimbus incus. the wind blew cool in our faces, and as the sky darkened, bolts of lightning jumped in arcs from one cloud to another.

people started leaving, a long, slow line of cars stretching out to the highway. we waited until the first fat raindrops fell, and as the wind picked up, we walked to our car to ride out the storm, watching the lightning and the tossing pines.