August 4: Heat lightning

I've been watching a cloud all evening. It's a great cumulonimbus, vaguely anvil-shaped, in the distance to the north. It was a cauliflower for awhile, bright white with the bottom fading to the same blue as the sky. It turned gradually more pink at the bottom, highlighting the mounds and turrets in dark blue. Just before it disappeared in the navy blue of the new night, it flared up and glowed pinkish orange for a minute.

After dark, the lightning started. It lit up the inside of the cloud, making it blink on like a glowing night light several times a minute. Now it's so dark that the lightning, still buried in the clouds, just creates a column of soft amber light. It's quite a show, completely silent. They call it "heat lightning."