Summer Storm Painting

Photo credit: Barry Scott There is something almost magical in the iconic Australian summer storms. You can feel it before you see it - the build-up in the atmosphere, air thick with the tension of anticipation. That heavy, sweet scent of rain fills the air before the sky cracks open, spider webs of light opening the heavens to release the torrents of rain above. As the day comes to an end, the clouds darken, pregnant with the life-giving water the land so desperately needs. A green-gold tinge to the sky signals the storm is on it's way. Driving down that long dirt road, the sun sets, and the rain begins to come - and the lightshow begins. Silently, without any fanfare, the lightning starts - like tiny fragile spiders webs, flung like a blanket across the sky, only to dissappear as soon as they came. Moments later, the crack of a whip causes the very earth to tremble, signalling the lightning bolt's landing. Again and again, the fragile, deadly light spreads itself across the sky, lighting the dry grass below with a strange golden light. The world holds it's breath in stillness between the darkness and the whip crack, shuddering by it's impact. Counting the seconds between sight and sound, just like we were taught as little children, I know I am far away enough to be safe. Watching the lightshow outside from the warmth of my ute cab, I am captivated. No matter how many storms I've been through, every year when they come, I am held breathless and still with the wild beauty before me. These fireworks celebrate the life-giving rain for the land. The Creator has come to tend to his garden - to bring life to the land He created. I stare in wonder at the wild beauty of the country that is my home, and the One who brings life to the land with each summer storm.