Hail Thor.
In the most recent Thor movie Oden asked Thor if he was the god of hammers or the god of thunder. He said god of thunder, but he really could have picked answer C, California. He could totally own that state. I was going to an event with my boyfriend driving down the interstate looking at the grey cloud encroaching on our edge of the sky. It almost had a greenish tint to it, I commented probably from the wind churning up the green tree pollen that was blasted everywhere. Spring in Virginia means a blanket of green covering every possible surface, particularly your lungs making you feel like a narcoleptic cat with the voice of Steve Urkel. Often the only solution to this annual tree mating ritual is rain. Heavy rainstorms are luckily pretty frequent in the souths' springs and summers. We are use to it. Grey clouds roll in, dogs start panting and hiding under tables, a big storm comes through quickly dropping a half inch of rain, the temperature and humidity plummets, and everything goes back to normal in about an hour, just with a lot less pollen everywhere.
The grey cloud was coming in and the wind was picking up. Ky was mildly panicked stating this looks like a big storm. I side eyed the sky and went eh looks pretty normal, actually pretty low key since the cloud was a light grey. As debris started flying around I listened to the radio. No mention of the storm and no loud radio warning of a tornado so it just seemed a bit blustery. I texted my friend saying he should give the dog a calming dog treat but mostly waited for the storm. The rain started pouring out heavy fast droplets as bikers and pedestrians ran for cover. Thunder was booming, pea sized drops of hail were hitting the roof of my car, and the large bolts of lightning were reflected in the burgeoning puddles. The whole time my boyfriend was transfixed even rolling down the window to listen. He was amazed at the hail (I mentioned its not newsworthy typically until its golf ball sized) and completely astonished that nothing on the news or weather mentioned the impending storm. I said no it said late thunderstorms possible but in general they don't really talk about it too much unless there are tornadoes or going to severely disrupt the day. He said in California they would talk about this storm for at least a week leading up to it and a week after. I just laughed as the rain subsided and we walked inside in between lightning blasts in the distance.
All this to say if you want to watch someone with Christmas morning like wonder, hang out with a Californian during a thunderstorm. They're just so excited. They go insane. They act like they are actually watching Thor descent from a thunder cloud and Zues is hammering out lightning bolts. I watch and hope the power doesn't go out because I just bought groceries or I panic for various reasons. My old dog would need me to hold her (either in a bathtub, under the bed, or in a closest, anywhere she couldn't see the flashes of lightning) and sing during the thunderstorms. Eventually she was prescribed Valium. She would notice the change in atmospheric pressure denoting a storm, stand up and walk to the corner where her pills were kept and stare at the bottle until I gave her one. She'd then go lay on her bed and I would big spoon her and wait for the storm to pass. So my feelings of storms range from mild indifference to fear that a dog somewhere is very unhappy.
Pulled directly from CNN today by chance actually echoes my sentiments. I love that it mentions golf ball sized hail (See Kyle, no one cares until its damaging your windows) and if there are tornadoes involved. Groceries, golf hail, and tornadoes.
I got into work a day late and saw a Californian coworker who grew up on the east coast. "So you couldn't fly in due to the storms?" He asked. "Yep." I responded. "I was with some Californians on the plane who couldn't believe the storm. There was hail." My coworker rolled his eyes and said "hail is normal, no one cares until its breaking windows."
The grey cloud was coming in and the wind was picking up. Ky was mildly panicked stating this looks like a big storm. I side eyed the sky and went eh looks pretty normal, actually pretty low key since the cloud was a light grey. As debris started flying around I listened to the radio. No mention of the storm and no loud radio warning of a tornado so it just seemed a bit blustery. I texted my friend saying he should give the dog a calming dog treat but mostly waited for the storm. The rain started pouring out heavy fast droplets as bikers and pedestrians ran for cover. Thunder was booming, pea sized drops of hail were hitting the roof of my car, and the large bolts of lightning were reflected in the burgeoning puddles. The whole time my boyfriend was transfixed even rolling down the window to listen. He was amazed at the hail (I mentioned its not newsworthy typically until its golf ball sized) and completely astonished that nothing on the news or weather mentioned the impending storm. I said no it said late thunderstorms possible but in general they don't really talk about it too much unless there are tornadoes or going to severely disrupt the day. He said in California they would talk about this storm for at least a week leading up to it and a week after. I just laughed as the rain subsided and we walked inside in between lightning blasts in the distance.
All this to say if you want to watch someone with Christmas morning like wonder, hang out with a Californian during a thunderstorm. They're just so excited. They go insane. They act like they are actually watching Thor descent from a thunder cloud and Zues is hammering out lightning bolts. I watch and hope the power doesn't go out because I just bought groceries or I panic for various reasons. My old dog would need me to hold her (either in a bathtub, under the bed, or in a closest, anywhere she couldn't see the flashes of lightning) and sing during the thunderstorms. Eventually she was prescribed Valium. She would notice the change in atmospheric pressure denoting a storm, stand up and walk to the corner where her pills were kept and stare at the bottle until I gave her one. She'd then go lay on her bed and I would big spoon her and wait for the storm to pass. So my feelings of storms range from mild indifference to fear that a dog somewhere is very unhappy.
Pulled directly from CNN today by chance actually echoes my sentiments. I love that it mentions golf ball sized hail (See Kyle, no one cares until its damaging your windows) and if there are tornadoes involved. Groceries, golf hail, and tornadoes.
Several thousands of customers were left without power on Tuesday as nickel to golf ball-sized hail and a possible tornado were reported from southern Massachusetts through Pennsylvania and into parts of VirginiaA few days later I was on a plane going to work. I was sat next to an excited girl staring out the window. She was joining the navy and going to Chicago for the first time for basic training. She looked in awe at the sky as a black cloud edged quickly towards us on the tarmac. She asked me what did I think they were going to do? I said noting the intensity of cloud that they'll probably pass out water because the plane is hot, but we aren't flying anywhere anytime soon and they don't keep passengers on the plane too long due to potential fines for doing so. Sure enough the water came down the aisle, then the sirens went off outside, and we were promptly escorted off the plane. She said "I'm from California, what are we supposed to do with this storm?" Nothing, you just watch and wait. She and her navy partner stared out the window. I called my boyfriend and told him I doubted I was flying to work that evening. He said "oh my gosh I know! Tyler (his friend from California that just moved to D.C.) has been snap chatting me videos of the storm and the thunder and lightning!"
I got into work a day late and saw a Californian coworker who grew up on the east coast. "So you couldn't fly in due to the storms?" He asked. "Yep." I responded. "I was with some Californians on the plane who couldn't believe the storm. There was hail." My coworker rolled his eyes and said "hail is normal, no one cares until its breaking windows."
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