Awesome

If I'm alone, there are other natural occurences I am more keen on than thunderstorms.

Sunshine, clouds, even wind. I'm down with those. I like thunderstorms ... but I need someone here in case the power goes out, and then we may as well go into "Survivor" mode because all my ancestors' cool-as-a-cucumber genes were lost decades ago.

And Big? He's pretty sure thunder is eeev-il. As in "BARK! I WILL PROTECT YOU ERIN, BARK, Wait, no, heeeck no, that's loud. I'm out! See ya!" All 15 pounds of him dashed into the closet with his tail between his legs. Really, really awesome.

It's not the noise or even the dark that bothers me. It's all the creepy things that've happened during storms. Bad horror films, centipedes in the bathroom, village sewer lines breaking and backing up in our basement, flooding creeks, toilets that don't flush because we lived in the country, no air conditioning in August in Michigan and no refrigerator for hours so don't even think about opening that, Erin, don't, don't, I SAID DON'T.

It's really great. The power didn't go out tonight, it thundered for only about 15 minutes that I was aware of, and it's not a big deal.

But it may be a long spring if I'm coaxing a chicken dog out of a closet with a flashlight with dying batteries. Just sayin.