Thunder Storm

 

The poem above is a fanciful way of thinking about a thunder storm.  With our recent events of torrential rain and massive, deadly flooding, I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was making light of that.  It was written during a regular old thunderstorm such as we get during the summer when the hot days are humid as well and result in storms cropping up, not during the remnants of a hurricane.  So imagine a run of the mill thunder storm on a hot hazy summer afternoon, and kids forced inside the house by the weather, and that is the context.

Growing up, it was not unusual for me and my younger brother, sometimes my older brothers as well, to be running around outside in the summer in our bathing suits in the rain, splashing in puddles and having a fun time.  I suspect it may have been my mother’s idea to get herself a few moments of peace from her 4 rambunctious kids on a rainy summer day.  We had so much fun doing that! I don’t know if any of my friends did that, but I suspect not since I’d never seen any other kids outside when we were out there playing in the rain.  (I see those memes often about learning to dance in the rain—I think that’s the way I was raised, I don’t need to learn it now.)  At the first rumble of thunder, however, we ran inside to dry off and have a snack.  I don’t know who told us this, or if one of us thought it up ourselves, but we said the thunder was the angels bowling.  I always envisioned the scene with golden haired angels with flowing white gowns and gossamer wings in a white fluffy cloud filled bowling alley having a great time rolling the balls down the alley toward the pins and strike after strike being scored.  I still like to picture that in my mind, after all, why wouldn’t there be a bowling alley in heaven?  The angels have to do something to pass the time, and a bowling party may as well be one of the things they enjoy.  We used to say the rain was their tears (I added the thought of joyful crying instead of sad crying) and in the winter we said the angels had dandruff when the snow was flying.  It’s pretty silly, but we never lacked for imagination in our house.  My brothers and I invented many games together when we were stuck inside on inclement days, everything from lining up the kitchen chairs and pretending we were on a train to one of us being the animal keeper while the remaining 3 were the animals being fed dry cereal from bowls on the floor (I’m chuckling while remembering this), to going into the basement and playing hide and seek.  The one thing we always managed to do was have fun together.

          We’ve had our share of thunderstorms lately, and I get a little pensive and nostalgic when I have a few minutes to enjoy the event.  I hope you get a chance to take a trip down memory lane when something comes along to jog your memory, whether it’s a thunder storm or a bright sunny day that reminds you of a happy time.