And here I thought I was the only freak who likes it when the power goes off!  *lol*  I just love the peace and quiet of it...no television, no nothing.  The shooting star sighting was like a bonus, Juri!

Now I want the power to go out.  Since I live in the country, it would be great for star gazing

Eep! I'm going to try and reply to four people in one post.

Trisha Haha! I'm sure there's more people like us. Because the next day was garbage day, everyone on the street had their rubbish cans out and the air smelt a little funky, so the shooting star was definately a  bonus.

Gabi It's terrible that the phone company isn't being helpful. I hope your phone problems get fixed soon! *lol* Pointless posts do rock!

Panpeus It's funny that you should mention that you live in the country. While I was outside I was thinking, "I wish I lived in the country so I could see the stars more often." I live in a suburb so I usually only get to see the brighter stars.

Galadriel Thunderstorms in North America are really neat! I really like how you can see the lightning bolt extend from the ground to the sky. Over here the lightning just jumps from cloud to cloud.

*gah* gimme a nice storm about now -

After six months of denial the phone company finally shows up only to tell us they can't fix it - they have to come in with heavier equiptment

I anticipate a loooooooong time of intermitant to no phone service...grrrrrrrrrrr...g

I went to Montana once and saw the exact type of thunderstorm you described!  Columns of clouds going straight up, and thunder and lightning going to the ground.  It was one of the most memorable and amazing things I ever saw!  The columns really make you realize just how teeeny we are.

I hope your connections start behaving, Juri! 

Cynde

We had a power outage in our little village during the last thunderstorm (again) My hubby and I are ALWAYS outside looking at stars or the storm.....we have candles burning almost every night, so we only notice the power outage when the TV is dead, or the neighbor's house goes dark.
Our puppies don't care much for it. To loud for them, I guess. Our cat is rather outside during storms.
The last thunderstorm we had was weird. For the first time I noticed lightning from the ground up! Thunderstorms in Germany are not like that. Lightning "normally" goes from the clouds down towards earth. Things are changing. Last year we had tornados reported in 2 or 3 different areas. That never happened before.

I have to share one more story:
My daughter was born on 30 May 1983. The night she was born we had a thunderstorm, every year on her birthday there was a thunderstorm, sometimes it rained and stormed only for a little while, but it always did. She is 22 years young now. We have been in different parts of Germany and different parts of the US over the years. A thunderstorm for every birthday all the way up to her 21st. This year's 22nd is the first one without a storm or a drop of rain. ???

Great stories!!

It's like a fireside group.  Keep 'em coming.

BTW - we do have our phone connection back, I hope  ...g