Tuesday – Anything Possible – Finger Point Prompt – Thunderstorm

~ John W. Howell

Keith Channing is still on break, so it is time for a finger-point prompt once again. Today, we have opened that non-New York Times bestseller, Eternal Road – The final stop by the world infamous author, John W. Howell. Randomly it was opened to page 167, and again randomly, a finger was pointed to the page. Of course, the word closest to the finger is prompt. In this case, the word is ‘thunderstorm.’  Since I have no idea what will come out as I proceed, I hope you will enjoy whatever it is.

Thunderstorm by John W. Howell © 2021

“That noise. I can’t believe we can hear it. The sound of a ball rolling on a wooden floor.”

“That is thunder.”

“Thunder? Oh, I don’t think so.”

“Yes. It is the sound that lightning makes.”

“Huh?”

“When there is lightning, the thunder is the resulting sound.”

“Okay. But I see lightning, and then the thunder comes later.”

“That’s cause light travels faster than sound. So an old trick is to count the seconds from the time you see the lightning until you hear the thunder.”

“What does that tell me.”

“How far away the thunderstorm. One mile for each second.”

“Where did you learn that?”

“Not sure. Maybe school. All I know is you don’t want to be outside when there is a thunderstorm.”

“There’s that sound again. I didn’t see any lightning.”

“Maybe it is because the curtains are closed.”

“Why do they call it a thunderstorm? Shouldn’t it be called a lightning storm?”

“Yeah, good point. I’m not sure.”

“Maybe that should be something we investigate.”

“Yeah, along with how come we hear thunder with no lightning.”

“I think I have the answer.”

“Okay, tell me.”

“We live above a bowling alley, Mr. Thunder expert.”

“There’s supposed to be soundproofing.”

“Said the landlord before the lease signing.”

65 thoughts on “Tuesday – Anything Possible – Finger Point Prompt – Thunderstorm”

  7. This reminds me, I haven’t been in a bowling alley house in years. There are a plethora of unique sights and sounds to be enjoyed there. Reminds me of so many good times. Have you ever seen/done/heard of candlepin bowling?

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        9. Great story, Steve. I have an overhead story too. I was boarding a flight and was about to put my carry-on in the overhead when a guy in the seat behind me said I was not to put my bag up there since he didn’t want his suit coat wrinkled. I looked at him and he was one of those guys with initials on his shirt cuff. I explained that I would place his coat on top of my bag and he found that unacceptable. The flight attendant came over to investigate the situation and after being rebuffed by the guy, left. The next person was the captain. He said to the guy calmly. “Sir, the question is not weather or not this bag is going in the overhead. The question is weather or not you will be going with us to Chicago along with this bag in the overhead.” No more grief from the guy.

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        10. John, this is the best story. It’s so rewarding to see knuckleheads out in their place. Of course, that was then, in today’s environment it’s probable that there would have been fisticuffs.

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  16. Do they still teach that? I bet there’s an app giving you gps coordinates of the cloud with its social media links if you want to follow it. It must happen, mustn’t or how else would people follow tornados on Twitter? Nicely done John.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Ha! Ha! A great twist, John. 🙂 That would explain the absence of lightning. I cannot remember where I first heard the counting between lightning strikes and thunder, but it works. Good one!

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  21. Sorry I’m so late! I somehow missed this one and in lieu of working, I am completely pfaffing at work and catching up on my inbox…
    Yeah. Maybe not the best place to live. Betcha the rent is cheap, though!

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