I could always make J happy by telling him about the cool thunderstorms that we regularly have in Germany. I remember various occasions, when I was in Germany and he was here and we were still living the not-so-fun-LDR, where I would call him in the middle of the night, just so he could listen to the heavy rain pattering on my windows and the roof and growling thunder in the distance. J always said that he closed his eyes and imagined it was the rain outside his window that he could hear through the receiver.
Whenever he came to visit me over there, he would ask “Are there going to be any thunderstorms when I come?”. He just loves the rain.
ADORABLE. I know.
Well, let me tell you, last night made up for all the thunderstorm-deprived years of his growing up in Southern California. Heck, even I have never seen anything like that before.
It all started off with some really, really big and dark clouds in the sky. When dusk fell, far far away toward the Sierra Nevada, I could see sheet lightning and was impressed by the frequency of it, but didn’t think much of it at that time. Thunderstorms in the mountains are frequent.
Later, the rain set in.
It still didn’t care much, because I have seen my fair share of thunderstorms and wasn’t particularly impressed by any of it.
But then I woke up around 1 a.m. and my room was lit up by continuous lightning. It was surreal. By then, I could also hear the heavy rain and thunder… but there weren’t isolated claps of thunder separated by lightning strikes, with which I was familiar from Germany, but a continuous, ongoing growl of thunder and lightning at the same time.
Frankly, even I have never seen anything like this before. I mean, it had been going on for HOURS at that point and didn’t seem to want to end anytime soon.
I was temporarily intrigued and stood at the window for a while, but then sleep overcame me and I just went back to bed and snuggled up under the blanket. The only wise thing to do, if you ask me.
The good news: it wasn’t a dry thunderstorm (like the one last year that sparked hundreds of wild fires), but came with half an inch to an inch of rain. That’s always welcome in the Central Valley, especially when it’s already June!
Steffi
June 5, 2009 at 12:55 amI LOVE thunderstorms. I could watch them for hours.
The biggest and nicest I have seen in South Africa. They have a lot of lightning and thunder and it is amazing to watch. So beautiful!!
Maribeth
June 5, 2009 at 3:51 amWe get them quite a bit here. Last year we had hail so badly that it damaged our fruit crop. So rain, rain come again, but leave your buddy hail at home!
kim
June 5, 2009 at 6:23 amhey, C and i did the same thing during our LDR. he loves summer-rain and thunderstorms, too. but he also got his share while he was back in the midwest because those can definitely compete with the german ones ;) those weird american men…
Tanja
June 5, 2009 at 6:41 amAnd I slept….. ;(
Sanni
June 6, 2009 at 6:26 amHopefully Jon could enjoy it! :)
Tinka
June 8, 2009 at 11:18 amHi San. Ich bin zufaellig auf dein Blog gestossen und dachte ich hinterlasse Dir auch mal einen Kommentar :) Schoene Website hast du!
Liebe Gruesse aus Rancho Cucamonga, CA :)
Ute
June 9, 2009 at 8:12 amwow I am so scared of thunderstorms. your entry gave me chills. love ya!
Carolina
June 12, 2009 at 1:33 pmI hate the rain! I find the people who LOVE rain sooo intrguing! And…I know I’m being nosey..but how did you and J meet?
I never saw or heard rain like that in NorCal..but growing up in Texas…Flash Flood Thunderstorms are the norm. After all, it IS tornado alley!
You make a thunderstorm sound so calming and I can appreciate that!