Dougal and the Blue Cat

It has been incredibly oppressive here the last few days, the air hot and damp, the skies feeling ready to burst. I couldn't sleep last night for hours - I thought perhaps excitement at my visit tomorrow, which maybe in part it was also, but I know now, it would have been mainly the coming storm.

I used to get this as a little girl - my mind would become wired until the storm broke, my energy levels erratic, swinging from listless to high, sometimes also bringing headaches or nosebleeds. At 2.30am I woke to flashing in my room. No sound, just bright white flashes lighting the sky. Hours later, I heard the first sounds of heavy drops, pregnant with the promise of fresh air, hitting the aircon unit outside, like raindrops on a corrugated tin roof. Around 5am, my world began to rumble. Hours and hours of breaking through the oppressive barrier that had built up over the last few days. My head now feels clear and I can breathe more easily. Clarity is a wonderful thing.

"Thunder and lightening, thunder and lightening, thunder and lightening." I can still hear the voice now - was it the blue Cat, I wonder? I think it was a female voice, either a Lancashire or Yorkshire accent, this is how the record always ended. It was only years later that I found out the record always got stuck here. I don't think I ever knew what came afterwards.