storm Archives - SaltyBug

Expat

Listening to the Music

posted by saltybug.com 21/04/2015 0 comments

It is hot here. Really hot. Muggy too. Really muggy. When the sun shines it is the burning sun like we get back home. Otherwise there is a lot of cloud and smog covering us all up. It is a little strange though because the temperature is not actually that hot. Well, where we come from in Perth it is like a normal summer without the 40 plus degree days. Yet it feels like it is. To give you an idea, as I write this my weather app tells me it is 33 degrees, but it feels like 41 degrees. Humidity is 59%. In this weather the sweat drips off you.

Today’s storm snuck up on me in surprise. It was odd because it was while I was playing with our cloud-dough with BusyBug. As my fingers dug into the soft velvety flour, I had been thinking about how I am currently living in a bubble. I haven’t really seen much news and I don’t follow the weather every moment I can like I did back home. I thought about how I need to change this, it isn’t right to step out of life completely.

I had realised as we played that it was suddenly dark and when I looked out of the window the sky was dark grey in the distance. I watched with curiosity then turned away. A few minutes passed and I looked again and I could see distant rain. I left BB at the cloud-dough and sat down to do some work in the lounge room. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the trees outside waving furiously so I turned to look. The wind was breathtaking. It wasn’t just ferocious, it was harsh. It was angry about something, or so it seemed. I turned then to look out of another window, to look at the tower being constructed just one hundred meters away. The tower causing us so much grief with the noise. There is green netting covering this tower, I guess this is part of the safety requirements, to trap any falling debris. The netting had come loose and was flying out from this building like a giant bird stretching its wings. It looked an awesome site. I tried taking photo’s through the glass of the window but they weren’t working too well and the window would not

open wide enough, so I ventured outside. As I opened the door my body connected with the wind and I felt her force. I drew in a breath. I am tall, not a lightweight and I staggered. I stood on a concrete retaining wall in our courtyard to take a picture of this netting flying in the wind, and I was blown off my step. As I turned to go inside, I saw BB who had followed me out, he seemed quite shocked and was at the door, his little body battering against the glass. I also noticed a strange sound. It wasn’t a natural sound, it was like a whistling. I paused to focus on my hearing and I turned to look at the tower again. It was the workers. They were all standing at the windows singing out ‘whoohoo whoohoo’ with the wind bellowing. It was eerie.

Back inside, back in the safety of our home, I turn my attention again on the wind. I notice the sky is filled with flying debris. Someone’s shirt comes floating through the sky, hanging there flipping around effortlessly for a few moments before slowly finding its way to the ground. It seems anything light weight is captured by her ferocity.

Then the first crack of thunder breaks through. It makes me jump and I wrap my arm around BB just that extra bit tightly. Now the rain comes and her drops cover our windows and shine like diamonds, as raindrops do. It looks like it should feel really cold outside. Don’t be fooled. Finally the lightening introduces itself and our Exposition is complete. BB and I sit and listen as our Symphony develops, her full body themes beating out against each other yet playing together in complete harmony. At last we reach her recapitulation and as the rain is left to end our concert we hear the soft cry of FlutterBug, who has awoken from her sleep.