I’ve never feared rain… well, other than the times when I just straighten my hair and I don’t want it to turn into a giant fro ball! No, the rain has never REALLY bothered me. Thunder storms were pretty cool too.
Not anymore.
I was working in my bedroom this evening with the curtains open. It started raining around 3:45pm as Andrew was getting ready for work. I heard thunder twice… it was clearly very far away. I’m pretty sure I saw a flash of lightning as well, but it was no biggy. Nothing out of the ordinary. At about 4:00pm Andrew walked out the door with the rain still pouring down. He said “I’ll be home in a few hours, as long as I don’t crash.” Clearly I got annoyed… not a funny joke! And as he left I kind of had that moment of worry, like “what if something does happen to him and this is the last time I see him.” I don’t think like that too often, but his comment just brought out the thought and so of course I was immediatly a bit sensitive when he left.
About 20 seconds later out of the corner of my eye I saw a REALLY bright flash. Normal lightning just lights up the sky with an overall glow, like a strobe light, and if you’re lucky you might even see a bolt off in the distance. This was different, MUCH different. This looked more like a yellow and gold glowing fireball. Before I could even turn my head completely to look out the window, the thunder struck. When I say “the thunder” I mean THE THUNDER! I can’t even explain the sound. It was the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard in my life. It crashed with a loud sharp (and long) clap and bang and then vibrated for a few seconds afterwards. The apartment shook and immediately car alarms all down my street started blaring.
Since this entire event took all of 5 seconds from start to finish it didn’t give me much time to think about what had just happened. But without even thinking, I immediately KNEW that the lightning had just struck something on my street…
…and Andrew had just walked out the door.
I panicked. I started shaking and ran to try to find my phone. I found it in my purse and called him.
No answer.
I’ve been scared before- startled, shocked. I’ve had my blood pump, my heart race, my hands shake along with all those other fight or flight emotions that kick in when something makes you jump out of your skin. But never has something scared me so strongly so quickly that it made me feel like I was going to throw up. Today, it did.
I sat there staring out the window, trying to determine if I could see anything. I wanted to run out the door to see if Andrew was out there, but considering the lightning had stuck less than a minute before, I didn’t think that was a wise idea. Luckily the phone rang about 10 seconds later and it was Andrew. He actually witnessed the bolt hit a house across the street. Luckily his car was on the opposite side of the road, but he was still within a few hundred feet of the strike. He hadn’t answered my call because he was trying to get into his car quickly right after it happened. His ears were ringing and within 5 minutes he had a gained a nice little headache.
There was no more thunder or lightning after that.
It took me awhile to calm down. I don’t usually get shaken up like that, but even an hour later, I still felt a bit shaky. I finally felt like I was over it, but then I had to go get dinner. I ordered a pizza from the shop downstairs which meant I had to go outside to get it. It was still pouring and it didn’t help that my entire apartment building was pitch black . I assume the lightning killed the power or something. I managed to make my way downstairs, nearly missing the last step since I couldn’t see. As soon as I opened the door I freaked. I did NOT want to go out into the rain. When the big lightning struck earlier, there was no warning. It’s not like I could hear it getting closer and closer over time. It just came out of nowhere. So how could I ever know it wouldn’t happen again?
Yes, I think I am now traumatized. I ran all the way to and from the pizza shop. When I got back, the shaky, dizzy feelings had returned. I seriously hope this will be short-lived. When I was young, if we had an earthquake I’d end up sleeping in my parents’ bedroom for MONTHS. I really don’t want to be stuck in the house forever for fear of going out in the rain. But I guess at least my hair won’t turn into a frizzy fluffball!
Then I can spend money on other non-essential items like Ugg boots, giant packs of orbitz gum, grape vodka and a 
Movie number 1 was Gran Torino. I knew NOTHING about this movie other than the fact that Clint Eastwood was the star and some friends and family said it was really good. Literally, that’s it. Well, I do agree that this was a very good movie even though I thought the acting was HORRIBLE. Not so much from Clint, but from pretty much every other person in the movie (especially the Asian neighbors). Seriously, where did they find these actors? 
Movie number 2 was “The Boy in Striped Pyjamas.” All I knew about this movie was that it was about the holocaust. (I’m telling you, I usually know NOTHING about movies before I watch them. Australia has sheltered me from seeing a million movie trailers on TV). This movie is about a family who moves to a house right next to a concentration camp. The father is part of the Nazi party (odd since he was clearly English) and has been relocated there to manage this camp. The 8 year old son Bruno is curious about the “farmers” in the striped pyjamas so he goes exploring and finds a new Jewish friend on the other side of the electric fence.
