~Thunderstorm At Sunset~

~BikerJim's Brush With Death~

I was out in the back desert this afternoon, in anticipation of another great sunset image. Brought a bag dinner, sandwich, some chips, pickle and an soda. Just enjoying the late afternoon weather moving in, again in hopes of a sundown display to show my friends at The Blip.

Well, that weather kept moving in, and moving in, and moving in some more. Until it was as dark as night, except for a thin strip of light on the horizon, letting me know it was still daylight. After the darkness then came the wind, rocking my pickup truck so much it took all my concentration to just drink my soda without spilling it. Then the thunder, still in the distance, but loud and approaching, not unlike a freight train coming in my direction.

At this point I considered bailing and going home, but I had invested a bit of time getting out here, sitting and waiting for my sunset. Plus I've weathered storms before, no big deal. And then it came down, the proverbial onslaught of biblical proportions. Raindrops the size of, well really big rain drops! My pickup was rocking, the thunder was crashing, lightning is exploding all around me and I'm thinking maybe it time to skedaddle out of these parts. But that would be unsafe at this point, there were normally dry gullies to cross, probably filled with rushing water by now. I better sit it out, at least I'm on high ground, though not the best place in a lightning storm!

Within a half hour the storm had passed over me and was headed northwest. I'll tell you something, ol' BikerJim was a little worried, well, maybe more than a little worried. I was out there for about three hours but I survived the deluge in the Tortolita Valley, and have the photographs to prove it!

See ya, TucsonJim ;o)