Grammar: Because It's Storm Season...

It's one of my goals for this summer to start blogging regularly again. I haven't been doing very well at that for a long time. To help me do that, I'm also going to be starting a weekly series on grammar and mechanics advice.

Storm season has arrived (though I have yet to actually witness a thunderstorm because I slept through the last one) and with it a common mix-up.

This is lightning. The brilliant flash of electricity that accompanies thunderstorms. If you're on Facebook talking about storms coming in, this is probably the word you want.

When something gets lighter, it's lightening. 

Some examples:
The lightning lit up the sky.
That's just heat lightning.
Lightning rods are meant to protect buildings from strikes.

Lightening dark blue paint can be done by adding white.
I am lightening the color of my jeans. 

They don't have the same meaning and they shouldn't be used interchangeably. This has been my grammar-related rant for the week.

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