November 30, 2005

From the Skies

Sunday night I was awakened by flashes of lightning followed by the rumble of thunder only seconds later. Even in my sleepy state, I automatically began counting to myself as soon as I saw the next flash. One-one-thousand… two-one-thousand… Then the rumble. I remember lying there thinking, “my god it’s getting closer.” Then falling asleep. Then waking up again at the next flash of lightning.

But today it was too cold for rain. Icicles hung off of the bridge over Ogden. Icicles hanging from your runny nose incidentally are called “nosticles.” Something we coined when I was 14 and attending high school in Massachusetts.

But what I want to know is… do snow storms ever feature thunder and lightning? To my memory, I’ve never seen such a phenomenon. Does the relative warmth of a rain-storm allow for the crackle of light and sound? Does colder weather prevent it? Can anyone fill me in? Besides google, that is?

Finally- when I meet people who ask me how I’m finding Chicago, I often remark, “well, I’m still getting used to the cold.”
They look at me with this world-wise gaze, like Yoda when he tells Luke Skywalker, “You will be… you will be.” And they say, “Oh… this is nothing. It gets worse.”