Windmill Lightning

It’s been almost a year since my last visit to the farm. In all honesty, I have a hard time going. Lots of memories, bad blood, and what-could-have-beens connected to it. Well, some other post perhaps.

That awesome picture featured above was taken during that last visit right before a hail storm. I stood outside mesmerized by the lightning show and just started taking pictures. It was pitch black so I just kept hitting the button until I got the perfect shot. I also took a pretty cool video. You can hear the old windmill creaking in the wind which really sets the scene.

The hail storm was something else. Most pieces were marble to ping pong size, but some of the stones were close to baseball size.

My mom’s Nissan Rogue sat vulnerable and exposed in the driveway and we just knew it was getting trashed. The hailstones hitting the metal roof of the house sounded like breaking glass. It was so incredibly loud. I had to physically stop my 80 year old mother from going outside and moving her car under the carport. We were amazed to find it unharmed after the storm passed.

I just love the land out there. The wide-open space, star gazing at night, unimpeded sunsets—it’s where my heart is.

The well water smells like sulfur sometimes, which is caused by hydrogen sulfide gas from naturally occurring bacteria. It makes the whole house smell. You have to drive at least twenty, thirty miles to find a grocery store. Wind turbines now pollute the landscape, a constant fight within the communities, and hailstorms and tornadoes are common threats in spring, even still, I love it. As my brother once said, it is my peace of mind. It is God’s country.