Day 109: It was a dark and stormy...*cliche*

Storm front at 5.55pm

Day 109 (24 March) And yes, my apologies but the storm that has just ripped through here was no cliche. It was a doozie...thunder, lightning, wind, rain and hail in parts. Some places remain blacked out. 

Still reading something
fishy, at 6.12am

Early this morning, at 6.12am, I was reading and listening to the radio and thinking about the writing I need to do. I was also thinking about how 'normal' people spend 'normal' Sundays and just how much I really want to get out in the garden today. I'd like to prepare the rose garden I think. I don't really know if that is what one is supposed to do, but I decided it would be at least a good thing to clear the overgrown grass, prune the branches, clear the deadheads. 

While I was pruning, I remembered how, as a student, I used to head to the squash court to belt out my frustrations and landing on that seemingly never-ending plateau of language-learning; the way in which, no matter how much time you spent on studying, learning, remembering, reciting, writing, recalling...some days it would never sink in. My tutors at the time promised I'd get it eventually. I didn't believe them but I'm glad I stuck with it. The pain was worth it, and now I tell my students--stick with it, you'll get it eventually. They probably don't believe me either. 

The lightning flashed, at 6.12pm

When I garden, be it pruning the roses or trimming branches or mowing the lawn, I spend much of my time thinking about the myriad problems running through my profession at the moment. I'd like to fix it as easily as one can with a pair of secateurs...

Everything feels better after a spot of gardening. Throughout the afternoon we received warnings of a likely thunderstorm but I wasn't too worried. I got back to work, reading and writing and short breaks with the cricket and Angry Birds. 

But the storm hit and what a storm. A fitting end, or beginning, to the week...at 6.12pm, it was at its height and in the darkness of the moment, the lightning flashed, the thunder roared...and we got to watch it all over again.  

What awaits us in this week ahead...?