STORMS OF LIFE

As Boyd and I were driving to the valley from the ranch one day last week to take three cow calf pairs up to summer pasture. We had unloaded them at the cattle guard close to the Hell Creek corral, and then headed back to the valley. We noticed black clouds to the west that looked like quite a storm. Boyd had received a “severe storm warning” for our area on his phone, so we weren’t surprised at the clouds. 

            We made it home but within an hour the storm hit, and it was a doozy! There was thunder and lightening, high winds, and pouring rain. The hail that was predicted did not materialize at our place though.  This storm didn’t last more than twenty minutes, I guess all of those elements had to get their job done in a hurry!  The storm then moved on to the east and Boyd and I agreed that it was a good thing we got down from the ranch when we did.

            Shortly after the storm died down, I went outside to check on something. I stopped and looked around. Everything looked greener than it did before the storm, the birds were singing louder, and the air had that wonderful clean fresh smell that follows a rain storm. There was a feeling of peace in the air. It was a wonderful feeling that affected all of my senses, sight, sound, smell, and touch.

            This made me think of some of the challenges and trials we have gone through. How we can see them coming and aren’t always in a position to stop them. How it is good if we make it to shelter before they hit, but if we don’t we seem to make it through with the elements pounding down on us.  Also, what a feeling there is after we have lived through and survived one of these storms/ challenges or whatever they are called. It’s as if a new perspective is revealed to us.  It seems our sight is made clearer, we can see more of what we need to do, where we need to change, and even sometimes how to change. There is a freshness in the air after going through these, a lifting of a burden from off of our shoulders. 

            I realize that often the challenges and storms of life last a lot longer than this storm did, but I think the aftermath can be compared.  Yes, there are a lot of comparison with nature and with ourselves.