I woke up a few minutes ago (at 5 AM) to the sound of an intense rain on my window and thunder (with a bit of lightning mixed in just for fun).

When I was a little little girl I was always afraid of big storms. I don’t think it helped that with big storms around here came tornado sirens and trips to the basement to wait it out.

So my mom would always explain to me how to see where the storm was (the old thunder to lightning distance trick) and that would always help, since it took my mind off the perceived scariness of the situation a bit.

She also explained to me that thunderstorms never lasted more than 20 minutes.

It wasn’t until years later that I remembered her telling me this and realized it was pure fabrication.

When I got a bit older I learned to like storms. I’d often go out in them just to jump in puddles. There’s nothing more fun than running outside in the middle of a storm and getting soaked to the bone and just not caring.