Friday 15 June 2012

What inspires you?


The view from the driver's seat.

Sunset over a gorgeous,
if fleeting, lake.
I think a lot of writers are used to getting inspiration from all over the place. Personally, I find weather pretty inspirational. Blue skies are boring if they're just on their own. They have to have something alongside them to make them interesting. For me, the coolest skies are those full of huge, artful clouds. I love a rainy day, but then that's easy for me - we don't get a heap of rain where I live. Crazy storms are the stuff of daydreams for me. So some of the weather we've had lately has put a huge smile on my dial.

My pants are not usually shiny.
The rain made them shiny.
Just over a week ago, I got caught in a torrential downpour on the way to my car from work (it's a twenty minute walk). Most of the photos in this post are from the moments just after the rain stopped - and stop it did, abruptly, leaving behind a spectacular sunset. New temporary lakes had formed in the streets, and the carpark was awash. In my opinion, a post-storm sunset is far more spectacular than a boring, run-of-the-mill cloudless sky sunset.

A few days after this freak downpour, I went with family to the airport to pick up my brother and co., arriving from Canada via Sydney. We collected them not long before the airport was closed down due to crazy stormy weather. Phew, their flight landed just in time! On the way back home, we saw a huge tree that had blown into the road (and a car underneath it). Then, as we drove along the Esplanade in the city, we saw this:

The mighty Swan River floods its not-very-high banks.

I peered eagerly out of the car, hoping to see more roads in ruin. I've always been a winter girl (at least, the Australian winter...which for some nations elsewhere, basically constitutes a fine summer). But sometimes I wonder if I'm a bit of an Apocalypse enthusiast, too. ;)

What inspires you?

39 comments:

  1. I love skies-- blue or stormy. The stormy skies definitely have drama in them. Strong emotion really. But some days our brilliant blue skies here in Colorado are so striking that they will stop me in my tracks. Great pics!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We do have brilliant blue skies here...but I usually find them depressing ;) They mean NO RAIN. And in our horrible summers, that truly is a depressing thing.

      Delete
  2. I am also weather-inspired. If it rains, I am a happy girl! I also love blue skies with fluffy clouds, but storms scare me too much to inspire me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love those fluffy clouds, too - the ones that look like you can reach out and squish them and they'll just puff back out again :)

      Delete
  3. WOW!
    Those are seriously amazing. I LOVE storms. LOVE them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I confess I like the stormy weather for photos, too. I've taken more cool pictures after a rainstorm and many during one. Since we get hurricanes, those can provide some wild photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, we don't really get those...though we did get one a week or so ago.

      Delete
  5. These are beautiful photos. I like going to diviant art and looking at the fantasy artwork.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Artwork is definitely inspiring for me too!

      Delete
  6. I love clouds, particularly ones involving storms. Although the way the sky paints the clouds can be pretty nifty too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed! Stormclouds are amazing. We had some great cloudage this morning :) And it's currently raining outside!

      Delete
  7. I'm with you! I LOVE weird weather and crazy clouds, maybe because I get so little rain? Your pics above look like our monsoon season in July-August.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, we don't get much rain either, so I crave it like oxygen! ;)

      Delete
  8. Oh WOW! I love it! I really love the rain, as long as it has an end in sight. That is a LOT of water. We don't get rain like that in the desert state of Utah, but I still love it. And sunsets are amazing! Rainbows too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Utah would totally have amazing sunsets, I believe I have seen some of them - but that was when you guys were coming out of winter :)

      Delete
  9. I too love a stormy day, but when it gets stormy here, trouble is not far behind. Whether it be from mudslides in burned out areas or just general flooding. So, I feel a bit guilty enjoying the rain. (Of which we'll have none for the next few months. Ah, summer.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, see our storms are usually relatively harmless...though there is usually at least one or two areas of the city that get storm damage. It's not like we're in tornado alley, though.

      Delete
  10. I've always loved storms too. I swear I sleep better if the thunder is rolling outside. I can't remember the last time I read about weather in a novel. Hmmm...Maybe I just didn't notice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't usually write about weather, I admit...but I sure pay a lot of attention to it in my everyday life.

      Delete
  11. Cloudless skies give me the willies, for some reason; I think it's because I read a character in a book once who said that she didn't like cloudless skies because they made her feel as if Nature were compensating for something terrible about to happen. Then World War One kicked off, so she was right. :) Rain's much more interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting theory! but I can relate after a recent storm we had ;) it was incredibly quiet, blue skies and sunny, not a breeze in sight (and my city is quite windy)...but then we saw there was a severe weather warning coming in, so it really was 'the calm before the storm' ;)

      Delete
  12. I like weather, too -- and yet I've been told NEVER to start a story describing a rainy scene. Dang it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So no "it was a dark and stormy night"s for you? hehe

      Delete
  13. I have to admit I'm a bit of an Apocalypse enthusiast too. I love a great rain storm. Thunder and lightning and all. Its great writing weather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YAY for Apocalypse enthusiasts! and I agree ...I often daydream of being stuck indoors during a storm, with nothing to do but write. ;)

      Delete
  14. Your post reminds me a bit of the way people look for tornadoes. Everyone wants to see one, no one wants to be in one. Human nature, I guess, but we want to see one so we can tell others about what we saw, and everyone will listen attentively and share their own stories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love being in storms...but then, most of our storms aren't that destructive, so I guess that's easy for me to say.

      Delete
  15. Weather is often an inspiration for me too, and I find it interesting that what inspires is often what's different than normal although I try to look for the interesting moments in the every day too. I live where it rains a lot, and days without a cloud in the sky are a rarity. I still write about rain, the play of cloud and light, but I find those blue days to be amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can understand your point of view - for us, rain is a bit of a rarity, though we seem to be getting more of it in recent years (Yay!!). Blue skies are basically the norm, even in winter ;)

      Delete
  16. Any and everything, the good and the bad. Inspiration takes on no finite form, for me. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh, I adore big weather! I think it is a good reminder than people are very small by comparison with the grand world out there and the universe even farther. Thunder storms are my favorite--the light show and noise... but without the destructive wind of tornadoes or hurricanes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's exactly it, Hart - I am awestruck by the power of nature, I guess. It is really humbling and does make me think of the utter hugeness of the universe :)

      Delete
  18. That was quite the storm! And I like your pants shiny. ;) Thunderstorms inspire me. I enjoy the energy in the air.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not used to wearing shiny pants...but I do like shiny things! hehe

      Delete
  19. That sounds exciting. I can see you live in the land of palm trees. I'm very jealous of that. AND, you apparently get quite exciting storms. Where I live is so boring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We do have some palm trees, but I think we have more pine trees than anything :) And gum trees!

      Delete
  20. I'm inspired by clouds, too. One of my languishing WIPs has a main character who spent most of her life underground, and she's fascinated by clouds. I could watch them all day. Fortunately, we have wonderful ones here in Colorado.

    ~Debbie

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!