early this morning a violent thunderstorm passed through, so i got up and made tea and sat on the couch and watched it. branches were twisting off the trees on my block and seemingly flinging themselves down to the ground. the lightning was striking overhead for a full 10 minutes, giving me snapshots of the rain and the clouds and the flooded street each time it flashed.
i was a sleepwalker as a child. the thunderstorms which terrified me in my waking moments somehow fascinated me, pulled me outside in my sleep-state. my mother found me outside in the yard during one particularly wild storm. when she tried to guide me back inside i told her i wanted to stay outside and watch the wind. from that point on, she would wake me up during thunderstorms and we would watch together from the picture window in our kitchen, wrapped in blankets and drinking hot chocolate.