yeehaw

it may be kind of cheesy, and one of those stereotypical conversation starters, but the weather is such a fun thing to talk about!
i think each day i grow more and more fascinated by weather in general... i'm talking going on weather.com and checking forecast, looking at the radar...so much fun. and i love talking about it too.
so, the weather out here right now. the past few days have been rainy... it rained through the entire night last night, and all day today it was at least drizzling, if not, raining. and thunder... the thunder is different here. i finall put together what was different about the thunder.
back home in b-town, the thunder claps and then it kind of relfects off of all the concrete, whether it be the ground or the house next door... it kind of makes it echo a bit. thunder in the backcountry, while on the backpacking trip, at one of our sites during a t-storm, it literally sounded like the thunder was rolling down the mountains and toward us like a huge boulder.
here, specifically here in the house i am staying, the thunder is raw. it took me a while to come up with that word cause i couldn't place how to describe it in one word. here, there isn't a bunch of concrete around the house... it's in the middle of farm land, and there aren't mountains to add to the amplifying and echoing of the thunder. here, the thunder claps, and all you here is pure thunder. it's something else, and it's hard to explain, but i think i will leave it at raw.
also with weather... weather is so connected to emotion. weather is almost an emotion in itself. so with the weather right now, i'd say it's the type of weather that really gets your mind going... at least when you are out in it. if you are just staying inside doing nothing, its going to depress you... but when you got out in the weather, it brings forth an entirely new emotion...
which brings me to a few more things.
i went for a run tonight down by tunnel park again (which i have now discovered, with a little help, that there is a tunnel there, hence "tunnel park"). you see, i park at tunnel park so that i start there, but more importantly end there. i've kind of got this routine. as i am out and running, i let my mind go... i take whatever time i am spending running and i spend thinking and asking God my questions... ask ask ask... and then when i end up back at tunnel park, go up to the top to my spot, and then, i listen. and today, since it was kind of raining out (yes i ran in the rain, and it felt incredible... i haven't done that since cross country!), nobody was at the park... absolutely nobody. it was awesome. after my run and my questions, i ran up to the top. so i sat there, in the weather, and i felt so comfortable. for a moment, as i watched the low clouds blow fast westward over lake michigan, there was some peace. it's not a new thought, but a thought affirmed... the thought, "man, i love it here." i realized that what i have been doing this summer is something that i have been wanting to do for a long time, but also something i think i was supposed to do. and i have enjoyed every bit of it. all of that... answer number one.
then out of the corner of my eye, i saw a little flash of light... fireflies? was my first thought. so i looked to my left but nothing was there. i just stared hoping to see it again, and then when i saw it, i realized what it was. way down the shoreline was a lighthouse, and i am pretty sure it was the holland light house. i have never seen a lighthouse do its thing, and i have to say, i was mesmorized. i just sat and watched it... and watched it. it's not what i thought a lighthouse in action looked like. it's much slower in between flashes, and the light is super bright, and super quick... it caught me off guard every time. so i sat there in the rain, watching this light house.... answer number two.
God is good... life is good.

so with a bit of re-energizing and hope after tonight, all i feel like saying is "yee-haw, lets keep riding!"

a week and a day until i move in to the dorms (third noordeweir, woot woot!)