I was sitting in class today when there was a flash of lightning followed by a clap of thunder. The first thunderstorm of the season had arrived.
I love storms.
I have always loved storms. As a little girl I was enamored by them and would sit out on the deck at home and watch them roll in. The dark clouds coming closer...the rolling thunder getting louder...and finally the rain starting...these were things I loved about summer. Living in northeast Ohio means we get lots of storms each summer, so they're something I have always associated with summer.
I have many memories of watching storms with my parents. Dad and I would sit on the deck and watch them...Mom would be glued to the weather channel to see if it was going to get so bad that we'd have to go to the basement (they rarely did). I've sat through storms that did bring funnel clouds...and sometimes even a small tornado. They fascinate me. Nature is so beautiful. It has this power to create things...to have wonderful scenery, beautiful colors. Sunrises, sunsets, forests, fields...so much beauty. But nature also has this awesome power to destroy itself. To have such violent storms that everything is washed away.
But it's a way of renewal. After each storm the sun comes back out and the air has this sense of rejuvenation in it. In the same way that I feel better after I've had a good long cry...maybe this is nature's way of feeling better too.
Summer brings humidity and heat...long nights of sitting around a bonfire and talking...memories of being little and chasing fireflies around the yard. It's almost the time of year where Dad will pull out the grill and start cooking outside again...almost the time of year where the heat will take over and the sun will beat down more than its behind the clouds.
The first storm of the season means that summer isn't far away.
And while you were glued to the window watching the storm, I was hiding under the covers because they terrify me. Maybe, given the connection you've drawn between raining and crying, this fear says something about me. Maybe I fear my own storms just as much as others do. I wish others would learn to understand that before they make up their minds about me. Anyway, another good post Big. Thank you for making me feel insightful.
ReplyDeleteI've loved storms since I was young, having had the ability to play in them and sit out on the screened in porch as I got older, and just sit and listen.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I love is the smell of rain coming on the air. The density changes and you can smell it coming. Love that.