Jared Free - "Extremes In Nature"

I have always enjoyed weather. By weather I mean rain, snow, sleet; the elements that fall from the sky essentially. One of my greatest thrills every summer is watching a big storm roll in. Everything in nature seems to get involved in the act. A sudden drop in temperature is proceeding by gradually increasing winds. As the sky darkens and day turns to night the leaves begin to turn over; creating a contrast between their lighter undersides and the dark sky that is one of a kind. When the rain, wind, lighting, and thunder are all rolled into one sometimes I'm lucky enough that the power is knocked out; making sitting and enjoying the storm roll through the only thing there is to do, and I'm always happy to participate. The situation is similar in the winter. Instead of absolute darkness the sky turns to gray. You can actually see the front roll in, and when the first flakes begin to fall predictions about accumulation begin to fly; wagers are made, and the anticipation of school being closed the following day is a thrill that cannot be duplicated. As exciting and enjoyable as the strongest storms are, the trivial ones are just as miserable. A slight drizzle, or a few flurries that melt on contact but seem to last for hours makes for a miserable day. So it is the extremes, the upper, not the lower, in weather that I enjoy the most.