The summer storms are here! AMEN! It has been so hot lately. My local weather says it's only been in the upper 80's, but my thermometer read over 100° yesterday, and that's in the shade. We've been having at least 90% humidity, so much that when you walk outside, it feels as if you're hitting a wall. You could cut it with a knife. I hate summer, but it's the storms that make it bearable, maybe even worthwhile.

There's nothing like sitting at your computer in the afternoon, then having the pants scared off you by the loudest thunder you've ever heard. It sorta sneaks up on you...
And when you walk outside, there's a huge, low-hanging dark cloud coming towards you. These awesome storms form out over the Everglades, and when they hit us, they can last for hours. Something else I love about the storms is the trees - I think it looks so awesome to see an almost-black storm cloud, with bright green trees in front of it. There's just something about the contrast of it. Not just in the colors, but with seeing a big, pretty green tree, peacefully swaying in the wind, with this giant, evil-looking, tornadic storm coming up behind it...

There's also the smell. Since the storms form over either the Everglades or the ocean, it usually smells like a combination of salt water, sulfur, and freshly cut grass. Ohhh, ohhh, that smell....

I'll leave you with a cute little story I read in a magazine yesterday:
A father and mother were going to church with their three-year-old daughter one Sunday morning, and it was really stormy outside. There were some puddles in the car-port near the van, and the little girl said to her father, "Dad, watch out for that pile of rain".

This made me laugh to no end. I mean I had a total screechy laughing fit that lasted like 8 minutes. Last night I bombarded A.E. with a whole slew of Bo Bice pictures, including the two below.

Well, I logged in to my email this morning and found the following reply:

"I like the first one (yellow shirt/smiling) the best. The second
one...well, he kinda looks like you. I don't know how to describe it. I don't
mean you're manish, or that he's girlie...you just...match?? The good
news is that, if you two were together, you'd look like you fit. Ahem. ~ae"

I kept going back to read it again and it made me laugh even more. What makes it funnier is that I totally understand her and even feel .....complimented?! Heh.

    

Here's a little something probably none of my friends know about me: I adore Bob Ross. His program, The Joy of Painting, used to be on PBS every afternoon, and I'd watch him after I had finished my homework or while I ate lunch. It made me want to paint so bad, so I tried, and the results were.... less than satisfactory. He made everything look so easy! It baffled me how he'd create such a masterpiece so quickly!

He'd paint an entire field with trees, a split-rail fence, a dirt road, and an old little barn, within a half hour. I couldn't even do grass. What makes it more amazing is that he never even had any formal artistic training, he was self-taught. He'd paint "happy little trees" and "happy little clouds" and "pretty little mountains". Then he would cleanse his brush in paint thinner and "beat the devil out of it".

He inspired my mother too, although her artistic talents were much better than mine. She bought a little easel, a wooden case for all her Bob Ross brand paints and brushes, and sat right down with a Bob Ross tutorial and painted it perfectly. Here's an example of her work.

I only recently found out that he was from Daytona Beach, Florida, not even 250 miles from where I live. I remember he also loved animals, and would rescue injured squirrels and baby birds he'd find near his home. He sometimes even brought one of his animals on the show with him. I always loved the squirrels. They'd crawl all over his shoulders and he'd talk to them while he painted. I was very saddened when Mr. Ross died of lymphoma in 1995. I still miss him very much, and my PBS station rarely  airs his program any more, if ever. Another childhood memory I'll never forget.

The things you come up with when you're delirious...!