I like pigs. Dogs look up to you; cats look down on you; pigs treat you as equals.

• The Gathering Storm (Winston Churchill)

I got to visit with Buddy and Bella again this morning; yesterday was a washout. There has been a lot of thunderstorm activity over South Texas this weekend and yesterday Ted spoke to Buddy at 6:30am and they had to agree that our Saturday romp in the ball park would have to be called off as the storm was directly overhead at that time. However today we managed to meet up at 7:00am as usual and have a jolly good run together. Of course Bella chased me and rolled me in the clay again so when I got home Ted had to give me a shower and since it is nearly the start of a new month he gave me my anti flea treatment too. I'm not bothered by thunder and lightning storms; eat your heart out Jenna! In fact the squeals that the Ted children let out at each thunderclap frighten me more than the thunder itself!

I wasn't there personally but Ted tells me that just as he took the second picture here there was a tremendous crack as a bolt of lightning struck something nearby. He, and everybody else in the house, thought that it must have been something very close to home as it was so loud but thankfully they could find no signs of damage to anything. Mrs Ted said she could feel the static from the lightning and Ted nearly jumped out of his skin 'cos the noise occurred at exactly the same time he pressed the shutter for this picture.