Weather stories
My family were holidaying on a boat on the Thames
near Oxford. One hot afternoon we had tied up for lunch beside
a field of newly cut corn. The straw had been left lying on
the ground. My children were swimming in the river near the
bank where it was shallow. The air was very still and warm.
Suddenly there was a rustling sound coming from the field
and a disturbance among the straw. The straw began to swirl
around and was quickly sucked up into the air in a swirling
vortex which moved around the field gathering more straw as
it went. Finally, the vortex moved out over the river where
the straw was deposited over the boat, the water and my kids!
Thames near Oxford, August 1995
