Thunderstorms are so amazing. I’m sitting here in my apartment with the lights out, looking out at the entire sky going white with lightning, followed by the boom and rattle of the ensuing thunder. It’s awesome in the awe-inspiring sense of the term. I’m glad I’m inside and not out in it, though. I was hanging out in a cafe a few weeks ago when a huge thunderstorm like this rolled in, and all of us in the cafe were looking at each other as these tremendous claps of thunder were going off overhead, wondering if we would be stuck in that cafe forever. But it quieted down enough for me to make a run for home, and that evening, like this evening, I just sat in my window and looked out at the lightning.

Thunderstorms always remind me of when I was a kid. Our house had a screened-in back porch, which was a great place to watch thunderstorms. You could feel the electricity in the air, hear the thunder without the intervening glass, and still stay dry. Someday I’ll have to live in a house where I could have such a thing.

I think thunderstorms were one of the two aspects of weather I missed in California. That, and fall – I never felt like California got that wonderful crisp feeling in the air that you get in autumn.

Although I have to admit thunderstorms are inconvenient – Wednesday evenings are the night of the pickup ultimate frisbee game I like, but I haven’t made it out the last few weeks because of thunderstorms. Alas. Tonight I went to go see Pirates of the Caribbean instead.

Deeper thoughts another time.