I love the intense summer storms of Maryland.
When I was a kid, we had a front-porch swing. I could sit outside — and often did — as the storm’s intensity surged, the thunder rumbled and roared, the lightning spiked across the sky, and the rains came.
To this day, when the summer storms come, I often sit outside. Feeling the spritz and spray of the heavy rain as it splashes on the porch, deck, patio or wherever I’m sitting. Intentionally.
Now, with no covered porch nor swing to swing upon, I still often go outside when a storm is approaching. Though as the early sprays of rain begin to increase to a full storm I have to go inside for protection. Still, I am often found looking outward, as I am now. Windows open. Listening to the sounds. Feeling the clearing winds come through my home. Smelling the smells of a summer storms. Loving it now.
This particular storm has reminded me no matter how many times before I have heard lighting strike, the crack of lightning nearby still creates an instantaneous response of fear and excitement at the powerful sound and energy it carries.
And now, as the storm’s intensity abates but the rains continue, I look, listen and smell all the more as the summer storm continues on.
