Storms and stores

After a seven-hour reading stint, I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I’d borrowed from a friend. Someone else was in the queue to borrow it, and so I started walking to my friend’s new theater in downtown Provo. Two things of note: first, the wind was blowing and the sky was threatening rain, and it was so wonderful! I love storms. I absolutely love storms. (Utah has pansy storms, though, and they rarely last more than five minutes. If only we’d get a megastorm — two or three hours of thunder and rain and lightning — every once in a while. A man can dream, can’t he? Or I suppose move, which might be easier. :))

Second, I really, really like downtown. It’s got so much character, so different from the part of town where I live, and especially different from campus. I was tempted to stop in at a restaurant on my way back from returning the book — any dinky old place, perhaps the El Salvadorean one I saw tucked away between two other stores — but the growing storm (which never did materialize) and a lingering ominousness from reading Harry Potter (which my overactive imagination had a heyday with) made me hurry on my way back home. But one of these days I think I’ll take a date on a stroll down Center Street, an exploratory adventure if you will, seeing what’s there. It’d be so much fun! Lots of photo opportunities, too. Tons. Ah, yes, I like downtown.

Ben,

Have you ever seen fire balls of lightening flying across the sky like cannon balls that are on fire, or a isolated tornado cloud where it looks like boiling water on the bottom and white waterfalls going down on one side and up on the other side, or roll clouds that look like an ocean wave crashing down on the horizon that accompany storm fronts? Storms and clouds are beautiful, powerful, serene and scary.

It is interesting to live where such sights are common (Midwest or New Orleans). Once one knows the city’s personality and morality, the storms are even more interesting. One starts to have a better understanding of what the GREAT and TERRIBLE day of the Lord will be like when He comes again to rule and reign on the earth.

I lived in New Orleans; I understand what was wiped out. Likewise, in Kansas City there was a certain section that always got hit. Later in life I found out that it was a haven for swingers. And when the SLC tornado hit, it wiped out a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell bar and damaged the Sabbath breaker section like a surgical strike then lifted to skip Temple Square. Did you know that the entire quorum of the twelve and the first presidency were watching it as their group photo was being taken in front of the statue of Christ in the north visitor’s center? It is the photo that they used with their testimonies.

I know that bad things happen to good people, but sometimes bad things happen to cleanse the earth and encourage repentance. So, if you want to see a really good storm just make sure that you are in good company for the viewing.

BTW the same cloud photo set that evoked the flying memory evoked a calm serene memory of lying on my trampoline to watch the clouds which is what evoked the great and terrible line of thought.

Also, why does one say the sky or clouds look threatening when they are hoping for rain? Wouldn’t it be more fitting to say it looks promising?

Last – it sounds like a fun date for some lucky girl. I hope that you have fun when you do it.

Ben-

May I recommend a particular scenario for your date? At Christmastime Center Street is all lit up and the stores put up candy windows, which are not at all as good as the ones the old ZCMI center in SLC used to do but they are generally quite charming and fun. And the weird ones will give you two something very funny to laugh about (I’m thinking of that beauty salon/costume shop
on center).

Also, the Salvadorean restuarant is pretty good.

e

Ben, e has a good idea. Here’s one other possibility for your date; there are a lot of art galleries on or around center street and there’s a free gallery stroll on Friday nights. Here’s the link to info on it, at the Provo Arts Council Website: http://www.provo.org/parks.first_fridays_downtown.html

On another topic, the best “fireworks” show I ever saw was when I watched lightning bolts flash across the sky with a brilliant sunset for a backdrop. It’s the kind of thing that makes me want to sing “How Great Thou Art.”

J: Aye, there’s the rub: I’d love to see the storm that hit Sodom and Gomorrah, but I have a very strong feeling that I’d detest the place and wouldn’t want to get anywhere near it. I wonder what kind of storms Vegas has…

e: They do? I had no idea. That definitely sounds like fun — thanks! Only four more months… :)

Laura: Another smashingly good idea. Maybe I should stop trying to come up with date ideas on my own and just poll my readers. ;) If only we had more lightning here, more frequently, more intense. Someday…