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LAST FRIDAY MORNING while that yard man of mine was fast asleep in Claire, Michigan, (HPD, Dear Reader! HPD!) I woke at an itsy-bitsy hour and couldn't sleep, so I switched on the bedside light and got into The Plot Against America (Don't fret, Reader Dear, it's a novel [a novel novel, I might add). A couple hours later, just as Philip was talking to his friend Seldon about Fig Newtons and I was getting drowsy and dreaming about catching a little more shut-eye, I started to hear the sound of a big commotion outside. It sounded for all the world like a storm approaching. Aware that there'd be few people to welcome it at the early hour of four-fifteen, I climbed out of bed and trotted barefoot out onto the balcony. Sure enough, a great storm was coming, and a great wind was ushering it in!



Very soon I heard "Hail to the Storm" being played on the roof and gutterspouts,
and figured this was going to be quite a royal affair!



And my goodness, there was so much flashing and crashing,
it took my breath away!



(I did gasp, jump, and think to myself that perhaps I should put something on my feet, since I was rapidly getting wet from the wind-blown rain now pouring from the sky, and those streaks of lightning, couldn't they reach their sneaky electrical fingers out and feel around underneath that balcony roof, find me huddled there, and do with me whatever struck their fancy?!



Right after I had that thought, the hair on the back of my neck stood up (small possibility it could have been my imagination) and a super-kingly bolt of lightning put the fear (of an early arrival) of Kingdom Come into me and I scurried back into the bedroom and put on footwear and stood on the inside side of the screen door to watch that storm until even that action seemed like too much derring-do. (Make no mistake, Reader Dear, this was a raging storm! For certain, I didn't want to make a mistake!)


The storm was full of exotic displays, and I couldn't help but stay glued for the whole entire show. It was so long, however, in making its marauding way off into the far distance, that by the time I once again had the cherished thought of gaining more sleep,


alas! The rooster was loudly announcing HIS kingdom come!!
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