It’s rare to have summer storms here. Hot dry days and clear skies are the norm. I started to hear the thunder about 9:30 yesterday morning. By the time I headed into the Foothills with a friend, the rain was spitting a bit. We ended up in Foresthill, had a bite of lunch, then headed back but first we stopped at a lookout point facing the Middle Fork of the American River. The scars and burned vegetation that remain of the 2022 Mosquito Fire are still visible and the burned tree on the right was as close as the fire got before firefighters stopped it. As I write, just a few hours later, it’s starting to heat up again, all the clouds are gone, and the lightening strikes have moved on.