Holy Lightning, Batman!
Okay – New Jersey wins again. I thought we had amazing thunderstorms in Utah, but they pale in comparison to storms here in Northern New Jersey. The other day, I had meetings in Brooklyn and had braved the insane commute – it was ridiculous, as usual. The temperature was around 89 degrees, 60 percent humidity. But when I came home…the clouds started to gather, and, after a while, the big show started.
Storms here on the Hudson River’s edge aren’t gentle and quiet. They are startling, striking, and majestic. It sounds and looks like giant warriors are in the clouds, throwing lightning bolts into the water, one after another.
I love the energy, the regality, the energy of a thunderstorm. My favorite thing is to sit outside and soak it up – letting the energy infuse me. It is vibrant and electric…I can’t get enough. Thankfully, it was a cleansing storm. It washed away the grime of long weeks of heat and humidity.
When I was a little girl, I remember sitting with my mom in the front room of the house in front of the big picture windows. She would hold me close as the storms swept down the canyon, uprooting trees, overturning garden structures, and freeing fences from the ground. She loved the storms, and I learned not only to not be afraid, but to regard the natural phenomena as superpowers to be admired and to be held in awe.
I’m so excited to experience the same thing with Arthur, watching the storms roll in, and teaching him not to be afraid but instead to be excited. Welcoming the upheaval and wild nature of them, and inviting them in. No reason to be afraid, especially if we’re tucked in, safe and sound, it is just a magnificent show of nature’s talents. I love it!
And speaking of Arthur – this weekend, he spent a lot of time at my home, and since my AC is on the fritz, I have some nice rotating fans. He would stand in front of one of them, and every time they rotated his way, he would smile, throw his hands in the air, and laugh and dance…we would laugh and laugh and love him even more. What a beautiful soul! We also made our first trip to the local splash pad. He was like a duck to water, running into the streams of water, laughing and playing to his heart’s content. Such happy summer days.
