Summer Nights

In the small hours of the morning, I awoke in darkness. I felt the night air coming through the open window beside my bed. I turned my head to look at the clock; its glowing digits indicated 2:15 AM. Through the window I could hear the sound of torrential rain.

Usually at some point during the summer, my lawn becomes brown, cooked by the summer sun and too many days without rain. That hasn’t been the case this year. My lawn has stayed green and lush from frequent rainy days.

After a while the rain ends but lightning and thunder rumble ever closer. I get up and go to the living room and turn on the TV. I have insomnia every night. I go to the kitchen and pour myself a double. I sit and sip it while watching TV. After a while, I go back to bed and back to sleep.

Morning comes; the sky is gray. I have errands to run. Drive here, go there. The sky remains gray all day. Night comes and brings strong storms: violent lightning, loud thunder. The lights in my house flicker. A few years ago, lightning hit so close to my house that the power supply in my garage door opener was burned out and the circuit breaker to my kitchen stove was tripped. I’m always mindful of what lightning can do to my house.

The power goes off for a half second, long enough to turn off the TV. The air conditioner hesitates and when it comes back on the compressor isn’t running. I know the reason: the compressor can’t start against the high head pressure that exists due to the fact it was running a second earlier, so the motor’s overload relay tripped. It needs to be off for a few minutes to let the high-side and low-side pressures equalize. My father was an air conditioning and refrigeration mechanic – it’s surprising how much stuff kids can absorb about their fathers’ vocations. I get up and turn the a/c off.

My computer is still on and I gamble that lightning won’t strike tonight. I leave it running but I light a candle, just in case the lights go off. A candle isn’t much light but it’s enough to allow me to see my way to a flashlight or to the battery-powered lantern.

An hour goes by and the storm is gone. The night is quiet again. There will be more storms tonight. Storms and heavy downpours are forecast all night and into tomorrow. After the storm the temperature falls ten degrees to 73°. I’ll open my bedroom window again tonight. Chances are good I’ll awaken before dawn again and feel the night air through the open window, hear torrential rain, and lightning and thunder will begin anew.