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April 04, 2006
Thunderstorm
Last night, as I was getting into bed, there was a wonderful thunderstorm. A good thunderstorm is one of my favorite things in the entire world. For some reason, they make me feel so safe, even if I am standing outside.
I know I inherited this love of thunderstorms from my Dad. I remember him standing outside on the porch, looking up into the sky, watching the storm...it always seemed to bring him peace, and it does the same for me. There is something strangely soothing about a huge storm, and I don't really know why.
Maybe it's cathartic. It's just so amazing....all of that noise, filling the sky. All of that light, especially when you can actually see the lightening bolt tear across the sky. It's absolutely overwhelming. It fills me with something that I need, something that I can't find anywhere else. I don't know exactly what it is.
I have never been afraid of thunderstorms, even as a child. My Mom was deathly afraid of them, and when they would happen when she was around, we would sing, "When You Walk Through A Storm" to help her calm down. But like I said, my Dad would feel the wind start to whip up that meant a storm was coming, and i could see the excitement in his eyes. He would invite us out onto the porch and we would calculate how far away the storm was by counting the seconds between the thunder and the lightening.
Last summer,when my kids were in bed, and when I knew the storm was still relatively far away, i went outside and swung on our backyard swing and watched the thunder and lightening. I'm sure I must have looked a little insane, because it was getting dark, and when the lightening flashed, there was my illuminated silouette swinging like a madman in the pouring rain. But it was wonderful. So very wonderful.
Anyway, I love the storm season, and I'm glad it's on it's way. And if you happen to drive by my house during a storm, take a peek into the backyard, and the crazy one on the swing will be me.
Posted by darby on April 4, 2006 08:47 PM
Comments
I love thunderstorms too. But, they do make me remember a particular dog named Shadrach that we had (yes, of the tinsel in the you-know-what fame!) who didn't like thunderstorms so much. Every time the thunder would start pounding, Shadrach would park himself in front of our screen door and put up such a ruckus that he would eventually break down the door, much to my pop's chagrin. This occured so often that pop finally started a pre-emptive strike against the screened-in door destruction by simply letting Shadrach in the house at the first peel of thunder.
And it worked like a charm. Our door remained intact at the end of the storm.
Posted by: Jessica on April 5, 2006 12:39 AM
I love storms. I used to be afraid of them. I thought that maybe it was the end of the world. Now I love them. There is something wonderful and peaceful about having something so much bigger than yourself.
Posted by: lr on April 5, 2006 12:46 AM
To feel the storm, all that ionized air and the thunder and lightening that make the atmosphere feel so thin, the world so large, and know that you are safe - that is so exhilarating.
But if I saw you on the swing, I wouldn't think you crazy. I would just know that you were experiencing the world deeply - you artist you. :)
Posted by: Peaj on April 5, 2006 07:56 AM
I have to join the club. Storms make me so excited and peaceful at the same time. I like listening to the sound machine at brookstones that has the really cool storm sound. I wish I could bottle real storm sounds, feeling and atmosphere and take it with me. I think you described it perfectly. I feel like it fills something in me. Unfortunatly, i am a little too scared to stand outside in a storm...but maybe I will be brave one day and face a storm head-on.
Posted by: Elizabeth on April 5, 2006 03:21 PM
If I saw you sitting on a swing set, I probably would have shot you, thinking you were a madman, bent on destruction and chaos.
Posted by: Dick Ronkulous on April 7, 2006 11:31 PM