Do you like a good storm?

I do and did even as a small boy, though I need to qualify this statement.  In general, I refer not to a tornadic event or hurricane or flooding monsoon or even a dust storm…the incredible destruction they wield is appalling.  But I do like what I suppose could be described as a normal storm.

These storms visit the areas in which I have lived in the Spring, Summer, and occasionally early Autumn.  I particularly enjoyed them when they arrive in dark of night.  Often a brisk wind precedes what is to come turning leaves around revealing their matt underbelly.  Great droplets of rain fall here and there before a torrent would send us scurrying for shelter in house or under porch.  The rain carried with it a freshness that wafted through windows and doors that we’d leave open if rain’s direction didn’t threaten to soak home’s interior.  Then, without notice, the sky would become ablaze for an instant as lightening jumped from cloud to cloud or cloud to earth or earth to cloud.  Thunder quickly followed when flash was near or took its time when bolt was far away.  The sound from crack was sometimes so pronounced I would jump back and need to regain my faculties before readying for more.  We were taught to count when first we saw strike until rumble resonated in effort to measure distance, though to this method’s accuracy I can’t attest.  It wasn’t uncommon to lose power during the most intense storms, which at night, added to the excitement when each flash momentarily illuminated every room like a great camera had taken picture leaving ghostly white remnants floating before your eyes.

Even adult’s hearts, who had experienced more storms than they could count, their saying, not mine, would skip a beat if flare and noise were unusually prominent.  I remember my mother and grandmother shrieking in surprise on these occasions and it would launch me into a fit of laughter.  Most would breathe a sigh of relief when man made lights would flicker back to life, but not me, as it signaled an end to the adventure.

What fascinates me when sky darkens and gale rises, I cannot say.  Man’s best friend will run to a corner for protection under these circumstances, no doubt an evolutionary trigger which I should heed, but the wonder, the power, and the awesomeness I believe will always attract this amateur storm chaser.  Perhaps the simple answer is facing fear and experiencing a rush of adrenaline has always appealed to me.  To answer before you ask, yes, I have always loved ride on coaster as well.