The perfect storm

For those of you who don't know me well, I am a wuss. I hate storms. I become like a child (or even worse, like a dog) and I pull the covers up over my head or I go hide in a room without any windows. My heart starts racing, my palms get sweaty and I get tense. I cannot even tell you why I am so terrified, because I don't even know! But I have ALWAYS been that way. Terrified.

So here I am, it's 2:30 in the morning, my boys are sleeping on the floor, the baby is next to me in her pack-n-play, and my hubby is snoring. I'm not sleeping and my mind is wandering. I'm lying here listening to the sound of the rain. It sounds like an overflowing downspout outside my window...hitting the pavement with such force. I turn my body to adjust my pillow, and *BOOM* I hear a loud clap of thunder (and nearly peed myself). Within a blink of an eye, there was a bright powerful bolt of lightning lighting up the bedroom. I froze. I was terrified. Silent.

My body became tense and my heart started to race. I reached for the covers but couldn't find them. Then it strikes again...flash.boom boom.flash flash.boom...and I became frozen. This went on for a good 30-45 min. I just laid there, terrified. Everyone was sleeping, leaving me to witness the whole storm by myself.

After a few minutes, something changed. It all became sort of...peaceful. My mind began to clear, my body started to relax and I felt myself slipping into a place I've never been before. I didn't feel afraid. I wasn't frozen. I watched it, listened to it and felt it as it rolled through. The lightning was like a strobe light, flashing and flashing throughout the bedroom. The thunder sounded like a bass, bumping and booming in rhythm. My worries disappeared. My terror was gone. For right now and here in time, it's just me and the perfect storm.

Below is a picture of a storm over Lake Chelan courtesy of golakechelan.com