The Times podcast: Our Masters of Disasters know it’s windy when the winds start blowing
I am just back from two weeks in the States visiting an old friend and then off to the UK to see her for the weekend.
I’m enjoying myself immensely. I’ve been taking it easy and spending time with the children on a daily basis and the weather is beautiful.
I’ve had an unusual experience on my travels, where I’ve seen the skies darken in a most unusual way. Yes, it has been that kind of evening. As I was walking up a hill in the West Country I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face and was heading into a hail of stones.
When I looked up the sky was dark. It was a dark grey and the ground was covered with soft rain, a fine mist of water that formed a white dust on the ground.
Then, at the far end of the earth, a bright light appeared and a black spot appeared in the centre of the light. I knew instinctively that the light had come from the sun.
But how could that be? The sun had just come up and was still high above the horizon.
When I stepped away from the light I could see the dark grey sky again and the weather had improved.
It is almost unheard of to see the sun as late as that and it was a sign from the gods that the weather was not going to be kind to me.
It would have been just my luck to be walking that morning and then to get into a bit of trouble.
I was lucky to have a good friend to be walking with. The others would have been in the middle of stormy weather and would not have been able to see even the brightest ray of sunshine.
I am a very lucky man and I can’t thank my friends enough for letting me have one of those rare experiences.
Our Masters of Disasters know how to make light of even the most unlikely things.
One of my favourite moments when I’m on the road is when a thunderstorm is about to hit. I have a very good lightning detector and