Stormy Sunset

The last 24-hour period has provided some of the most incredible weather so far this year in Watertown and southern Wisconsin. Semester finals began yesterday, so I stayed up until around 2:30 last night to study for my American Masterpieces exam. Around 1:30, the storm rolled in with heavy rain, rapidly repeating lightning, and thunder that quaked the dorm. The power flickered gentle a couple of times and then finally the lights went out for a couple of seconds. I studied on, enjoying the theatrics.

The American Masterpieces exam was scheduled to begin at 7:30 this morning. I meant to wake up around five o’clock to supply myself with an another healthy hour of cramming, but didn’t will myself out of bed until closer to 6:30. That was fine though; I really didn’t feel much like studying much more for that test. So I put myself through the usual paces with the daily shave, shower, and prep work to set foot outside of Spurgeon dorm…

The storm had left the air crisp and clean with at least one nightcrawler on the paved back drive to the Dining Commons. The blades of grass (still uncut this year), still wet ad standing upright, now the boldest shade of green, magnified through the moisture from the previous night light of the sun rising to the east of campus and just south of St. Bernard’s Parish.

I grabbed a quick breakfast, went to the classroom, decided that cramming for two more minutes would likely be futile, and succomed to one of the longer tests that I’ve ever taken. Halfway through we found out that we had to move to third floor of Old Main. We stepped out of the classroom, and out of the Dining Commons, again into the fresh air.

Up the stairs we went, one flight to second floor, and the tougher flight to third floor on our way to Fine Arts Hall. The lighting is not very good in Fine Arts Hall, but that was quickly ignored as I resumed work on the multiple choice portion of the questionnaire and worked my way through short answers and essays. I finished and had time to return to my room to watch my new external hard drive finish defragging and brush my teeth before heading to scholarship chapel.

I checked the radar before heading out—should I grab the umbrella? Another storm was approaching Madison—would it hit in the next hour? Nate and I hurried to chapel and found a couple seats. Within ten minutes, the rain had arrived. Within fifteen, a downpour was crashing on the roof the gymnatorium. Within twenty, thunder was rolling around the building. At about twenty-five minutes, there went the lights, with only the emergency lights on the doors providing just enough light to see those seated nearest myself and the outlines of others of the nine hundred faculty, staff, and students positioned throughout the room. The darkness lasted about seven seconds before cell phones were produced from pockets and purses and held high in the air with screens shining bright.

Two minutes later, the power had returned and chapel resumed. The rain continued on, but lightened up by the time chapel ended. Off to more studying, lunch, and eventually another exam…

At 1:30 I took a simple exam for a one-credit class, and then began to run a few errands and do some various tasks. As I sat in my dorm room I could feel the humidity increase as the temperature rose to 73°. My roommate and I talked for a bit before heading off to a particularly excellent supper—battered cod, a sort of grilled-looking chicken, cooked ham, and cheesecake. The clouds were rolling in from the west, beyond the railroad tracks. I had seen on the radar that a narrow line of thunderstorms, extending from southern Wisconsin to several states below. I didn’t think that it would hit us while I ate—I was wrong. It rained moderately for the first few minutes, then a torrential downpour with winds to match began and continued for at least six minutes. Sheets of rain fell to the ground outside, and a few of began to makes calls to friends back in the dorm, hoping that they could shut the windows.

After a couple of minutes of watching the rain blanket down, a few of us left our dinner trays on the conveyor belt and watched from the sitting area in the Dining Commons. Looking out to the southeast, I watched as a single bolt of lightning went briefly horizontal and then as straight down to the earth as a lightning bolt will go. One second later, the lights are out again—probably for at least three minutes this time. After a couple more minutes the lightning had begun to cease. Some of us made a run for the dorm through the moderate rain and watered-down parking lot. Back in my room, I discovered the wind had driven rain through the open window at least six feet into the room. Of course, only four minutes after returning my room, the rain had ceased.

I needed to be in Burckart Hall to photography a voice recital by 6:15, in case the singer wanted her photos taken before her performance. She was too busy before, so I crafted some shots during the recital and took the posed photos afterward. Upon leaving Old Main, I beheld a sunset that could only be wrought after hours of turbulent weather—a beautiful sunset that filled the western sky over top of the Dining Commons and around the western edges of the campus. Back out came the camera, quickly joined by the flash.

Apparently I wasn’t the only with capturing the view. As I packed up my camera and headed back to the dorm, one of my friends was running around, grabbing different angles of the western sky over the Dining Commons as well. We soon made our way back towards the dorms, only to discover a fair-sized toad on the walkway to the front door of Spurgeon. Probably twenty minutes later, we had finished photographing him in a variety of settings—in the grass, in the tiny pond that has formed outside of Judson Residence Hall, on top of a fire extinguisher, in my breast pocket, on Andy’s shoulder. When we were finally satisfied, we parted ways, and hopefully didn’t leave the toad to blinded or stunned by the flashes from our digital cameras.

I really don’t have any profound way of concluding this, other than to say that it is now 10:55, and I have a long day of writing and studying ahead of me. Only eight more days until Argentina. Only five more days until I leave campus. Only about five weeks until I begin applying to become a Warrant Officer in the Army in order to fly helicopters. Only a short life in front of me. I need to learn to enjoy every day like I was able to today.

(Note: My apologies for any grammatical mistakes—it’s late, I didn’t want to proofread tonight, and I really want to retire to my mattress and enjoy the fresh breeze flowing through the window.)