Twas a dark and stormy night

Man, the witches were really flying last night.

Last night a big rainstorm moved in late, and poured on us for most of the night. But in the early evening, it was perfectly, totally clear. Even with city lights, you could see lots of stars. And it was windy.

It got more and more windy as the night wore on. I laid in bed and listened to it roaring in the juniper outside the bedroom window, and the leaves scurrying along the sidewalk.

Where do all these leaves come from that I hear scurrying? In the morning I go out, and they're leaves from no trees we have around here. The wind must have chased them for blocks.

It was easy to imagine, listening to the leaves and the wind roaring, that the witches were out flying on their brooms, and so were the bats.

Although if I were a witch, I wouldn't fly around in stormy weather. I'd much prefer a warm night in June with no wind. But then, I'm not a witch.

Once it started raining, though, all the witches went home, or the water would shrivel them up. The wind stopped and it became just a peaceful patter of rain for the rest of the night.

Insomnia, at least you're good for one thing: listening to storms.