Today I watched a storm. The first real storm of the spring. It came on slow at first, a few dark clouds drifted past with interspersed flashes of lightning. We laughed and thought it was funny.

Then the wind picked up, and the flag on the building next to us changed directions every thirty seconds. The charge in the air was palapable. A fearsome crack rent the air, though we saw no flash. And the rain came.

We were instantly soaked to our very core. Every stitch of cloathing permeated in under 10 seconds. Up until this point there had been but a steady drizzle, now it was what can only be called a cloud burst. It was as if some dam in the sky had burst and was sending it's payload straight at us.

Through the sky ran silvery cracks. Cracks that shocked us to silence as they were followed by a roar like waves crashing on rocks. Beautiful it was, and terrible at the same time.

I began to laugh as I looked up with the rain hitting my face. Laughter seemed to bubble up to meet the drops pouring down. The laughter of a man who knows mortality. Frightened and yet at the same time never more alive. For a moment I felt my feet leave the ground, and I soared among the flashing clouds.

Then I was back, and my bare feet were cold on the pavement. The lightning still flashed and the raing came down as if it would never stop, but the moment was over. As with all such moments, it was not to be recaptured. And as is best with these things, I did not dwell. Instead I went inside, back to the life of the mundane. But in my heart, I am always flying in the clouds.

Strong as Steel

Iron