Friday, August 31, 2007

Day 427: Stormy Weather

I added a new photograph to Creative Journey in my Photography section,
A Thunderstorm Approaches


One thing I've loved ever since moving to north Idaho are the enormous thunderstorms that roll through in the late afternoons. When I lived in Lewiston, I'd go out to the point where the Snake and Clearwater Rivers converge and stand in the wind and rain, watching the water and sky, seeing the northern ridge light up as the lightening split the valley sky.

Now where I live, the storms are most spectacular over the Rathdrum Prairie. I caught this image as I drove north on Hwy 41 on my way to pick Jodie up from work. One of these days I'm going to get rear-ended if I don't pull off the two-lane highway far enough. But the scenery is just spectacular and I can't help but stop by the fields and soak in the beauty.

These clouds are rolling in from the west, over the hills and newly harvested fields. Those are irrigation pipes in the foreground; the Jacklin Seed truck container in the background is a familiar sight at this time of year.

Before long, the air will be clogged with the smoke as the fields are burned, making them fertile for next year's crops.

A traveler's tip: don't visit north Idaho during field burning season unless you bring along your own oxygen tank.

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