Environment Canada's radar system appears to have gone down all over the country yesterday. There had been an earlier weather watch alert for violent thunderstorms in our area, but we get these alerts often and don't pay much mind to them, they're part of a normal summer, after all. And truth is, we enjoy those thunderstorms that erupt so unexpectedly drowning the over-heated atmosphere with cooling rain, bringing out brilliant colour in the landscape, thrilling us with the sounds of rolling thunder drawing nearer and nearer...

Yesterday was yet another hot and humid day. When we both completed our indoor tasks for the morning, we set out as usual for our daily ramble in the ravine beside our community, with our two little dogs. They're long past the age when they eagerly looked forward to being in there, rambunctiously cavorting and enjoying the free atmosphere. We'll never be too old, I believe, to enjoy the opportunities that contiguity of landscape has afforded us.

Just before we left the house the sky was full of ominously-dark clouds, heralding thunderstorms, but then there was an appearance of blue, and some sun, and off we set. If it rains moderately-to-lightly there is enough of a woodland canopy to keep us reasonably dry. But then, thunderstorms never result in moderate rainfalls; they're short, sharp and heavy; nothing stays dry caught out in such deluges.

There was the slightest edge of apprehension, of being caught out in the weather during our ramble. When we go the full length of our usual loop it takes us anywhere from an hour to an hour-and-a-half to complete, much longer than it used to, given the slow pace of our two little beasts ... and me too, truth to tell.

We've had these events often, and it's rare that we get caught out. Usually we tend to make it back home just as a storm is on the verge of breaking, or it has started, with the light patter edging on heavy downpour when the storm clouds themselves rise directly over us. On this occasion, as we moved steadily through the trails, thunder kept warning us and thrilling us at one and the same time, but it tended to be elsewhere, moving off in a southerly direction.

My husband felt confident that the series of thunderstorms that were so busy overhead would keep avoiding hitting us directly; disappointing us, actually. I felt otherwise, that a deluge was inevitable and close to occurring. We cut short our walk by about one-quarter of the usual length, by diverting onto an intersecting trail to complete a different loop. And the thunder seemed to follow us closely. It wasn't until we were almost out of the ravine, ascending the last hill, that lightning too appeared.

When we reached home, we lingered outside awhile, scrutinizing the heavens, thick with darkly smudged clouds moving rapidly on this windy day. We enjoy watching and listening to an oncoming storm as much as we enjoy witnessing these storms in progress, marvelling at the wind, the copious rain, the rolling thunder and impressive lightning.

All of which descended upon us a mere two minutes later.