As I sit typing this, rain is pouring down outside and occasional thunderclaps rumble. I love the sound of rain tapping on the roof, and the knowledge of the relief that this brings to this dry country. The creek I drive across every day is looking more and more like a creek bed every day. Thankfully, we do get a lot of storms during the summer months.
As we've already established, summers in Texas are hot. With this heat comes afternoon thunderstorms, as hot air meet cool, moist air. The hot air rises and cools to form clouds until the raindrops are heavy enough to fall back to earth. Then there's something about electrons and electrostatic discharge and some other sciency stuff that all equals lighting. And thunder is the sound of lighting.
I like thunderstorms. See, I like rolling thunder that rumbles softly in the distance. I like the rain we've received this past week in torrential downpours. And I like the rainbows that so often form with the unique mixture of sun and rain that comes with a Texas thunderstorm.
I am not, however, a huge fan of crashing thunder that rattles windowpanes and cause lights to flicker.
My brother always makes fun of me for being afraid of thunder, though I really can't help my astraphobia. When I was younger, I would clamp a pillow over my head, as tightly as I could, to block out the sound. I'm slightly more mature about it now, but when a huge supercell thunderstorm blew througg earlier this week, Java and I comforted each other while the thunder crashed outside and the lights flickered inside. While I know that thunder itself is not going to hurt me at all, the loud, sudden noise of a thunderclap almost always makes me jump. And, if I'm being honest, sometimes I still squeal a little too.
Even so, I love afternoon thunderstorms, because summer is an afternoon thunderstorm.
As evidence that thunder is indeed frightening I present Exhibit A, my favourite video of the week. Yes, I am aware that a lightning strike in the middle of an open field could be very bad for anyone standing in the middle of said field. Nevertheless, I find this video extraordinarily funny to watch.
