Thunderbolts of lightning...

...very very frightning... :-)

So last night there was yet again another thunderstorm.

There have been a lot of those this summer - which really is unusual.

I don't mind thunderstorms. In fact I love them. But when some of the trees next to (or actually in) my hedge shows evidence of being struck by lightning (not last night’s storm though) I tend to get a bit...nervous. Mostly because I live in a wooden house :-)

And last night there was a lot of lightning going on. It was beautiful. But when the thunder is so loud it even makes your house tremble and the lightning appears at the same time...you know it’s close :-)

Still there's something very soothing about sitting in the dark listening to the thunder and the heavy rain and just watch how the lightnings are racing across the sky.

Not my picture.

The only downside to the thunderstorms is that they appear to be the cause of some of my headaches.



On a side note Denmark will get a visit from what's left of hurricane Bill on Thursday, but so far it's not gonna do much other than maybe increase the wind a bit and give us perhaps a bit extra rain... :-)

And earlier this month there was a tornado* that hit a city about 40 kilometers from where I live. It damaged a few houses, cars and trees.

This is not a picture of the actual tornado* forming - but it's a picture of another one forming the same day about 5 kilometers from where I live. Again not my picture.

So the weather has been acting up this summer. But now that summer is almost gone (at least that's what the calender says...) next we have autumn...and winter.
Which means I can't help wondering if I should purchase a pair of skis...just in case :-)



* = We do get tornados on a regular basis but on the Fujita scale they barely hit F0. They usually form over the ocean which means they never really touch ground. This particularly tornado was a F1. It's only happened once before in Denmark. In 1962.

I love thunderstorms.

This was intentionally not going to be up before next week but due to the weather right now, you might say I was inspired ;o)

Being Danish and not wanting to discuss the weather would probably be like….being American and not wanting to discuss baseball or being Dutch and not wanting to discuss....tulips. (Okay strike the last one. I don’t know anything about what the Dutch like to discuss.)

What I’m saying is that conversations about the weather is what the Danes do the most. That and conversations about sports (football/soccer and handball in particular).



Part of the reason why we [constantly] talk about the weather could be that we once depended a lot on being an agricultural country. So if the weather was bad (we don’t like too much water and we don’t like too much sun either) the harvest would fail.
Not being solely dependent on the harvest anymore I’m sure it’s just because ‘the weather talk’ have been passed on from generation to generation, but it’s probably fading more and more. Not a lot of the kids these days know much about agriculture (nor do I, but I did spend a lot of my childhood on a farm. What?) so it’s not a necessity anymore. But it still makes great small talk ;o)

Alright back to the thunderstorms.



On a stormy day there’s nothing better than to get a blanket, a book (and a lot of candles in case the power goes out) and a lot of coffee/soda/water/alcohol/whatever beverage you choose and get all comfy on the couch or in your favorite chair. And do nothing but read, listen to the thunders and the rain, and look out the window from time to time. And when you are all at peace and really enjoying yourself you’ve reached a state of mind that (apparently) only have a description in Danish (and Norwegian). We call it hygge. And it’s something we do all the time - hygger - either alone or with others. (Basically when something is nice and comfy and you’re enjoying yourself – that’s hygge…)

I love the heavy rain and the thunder. I’m fascinated by lightning. It always amazes me how the lightning is able to light up the sky at night. And the paths it might take.
It’s probably because the weather in Denmark is pretty boring. It consists for the most part of average amount of sun, rain and snow. It rarely acts out.



I like when the weather is acting out. But at the same time it scares me a bit. Because I know it can be lethal.

I was reminded of that 3 days ago, when a Dane was killed by lightning. (Last time someone was killed by lightning in Denmark was in 2006, so thankfully it’s not a common thing. But that doesn’t make it any less dangerous.)