On Ants, Storms, and Leaky Houses.

The first rumbles of thunder began at around 6pm. I was doing a few light jobs in the garden and noticed that the ants were unusually active. (I assume ants become a bit restive when there’s electricity in the air, but I wouldn’t know. If ever I was an ant in a previous incarnation, I don’t remember it.) Whatever the reason for their restiveness, however, they were directing it at me. I got bitten a lot. (Do ants bite or sting? I think they probably bite, but whatever it is they do, the result is a red spot which is a little painful for about ten minutes. I had lots of them.)

But then, after an hour or so, the occasional rumble gathered both frequency and volume. And then the lightning became visible and the thunder more thunderous. (There, I said it. I considered the adjective ‘cacophonous’ so as not to sound amateurish in the matter of writing, but settled on ‘thunderous’ because it sounds silly and that suits me.) Soon the lightning and thunder were directly overhead, very bright and very loud. And then came the rain, closely followed by a mighty wind which shook the trees to near breaking point and drove considerable quantities of water hurtling sideways like horizontal stair rods.

Now, the thing is you see, one of the peculiarities of my old house is that it leaks water when rain is driven at speed against the south wall. And so that’s what happened, except it engaged in a little variation because only one of the places where it normally leaks did so, but the worst leak of all came in a place where I’ve never known it leak before. I’ve just finished cleaning up the little pools of water, complimented by wet mortar dust, off the stairs. 

Such circumstances make you long for dull moments, you know. They do.