Last night there was a bit of a lightning show. Most of it was contained within the clouds, but every once in a while a bolt would shoot down in plain view. It provided about 45 minutes of fun.

I’ve been working my butt off so much recently that I very well may have to write today’s post while standing. I’ve been working seven days a week, from early morning to late night, sometimes straight through till the next morning.
After another long stint in front of the computer, I managed to get “outside” for a whole 30 minutes. It was refreshing; the sun was out, the sky was blue, leaves were green and the air smelled distinctly floral. Ahh, the world in 3D.
I had enough time to snap a few photos of some new magnolias. Here’s one image that came out well. 
Back to the grindstone…
Thanks to intense weather and a freak solar flare and the accompanying burst of solar radiation, cell phones went wonky, our local power grid has been having serious issues and, sadly, our electricity and internet connection have been wiped out.
Thank goodness I have a laptop – I’m writing this by candle light right now.
Here’s what it looks like outside (too bad you can’t hear the 60mph winds):
[update]: 25 hours without power. Enjoyed an intense hail storm this afternoon – so strong the hail was ripping by horizontally!