Orange County storms can be ominous. In their fury, unruly waves lunge over the Seal Beach Breakwater. They soak the wood planks dark and slick emptying its length of those who favor milder days. Other times they arrive as a cold blast of rain giving way to blue skies and cool breezes a short time later. I've come to appreciate and take pleasure in their moods. Brooding storms and the unrelenting surf beckon me more often than sunny days and I feel a calm contentment walking the nearly 2000 feet of the pier from end to end. Sometimes I linger on one of the benches finding solitude among the shadows of the gray clouds, dirty with the heavy burden of rain.