This morning at around 2 AM we were awakened to a brilliant flash of lightening followed immediately by a tremendous crack of thunder. It was so loud (how loud was it?) it set off the alarm in the car!
It reminded me of a storm back around 1959-60. It wasn't a hurricane, just one of those tropical depressions that pass over during the summer. They can sometimes dump a lot of rain and be quite noisy.
Our cousins, Frances and John-John, were visiting from Puerto Rico. One night we all went to bed only to be awakened when lightening hit a power pole near our house. The concussion from the noise of the thunder was so great a crack formed in the concrete block wall of my bedroom.
Of course we all woke up and wandered around the house in semi-dazed states. Mom made hot chocolate to sooth our rattled nerves and we all went back to bed.
Oh...did I say we ALL woke? That's not quite the truth. My cousin Frances slept through the whole thing. She was upset when she found out she had missed having hot chocolate.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You were sleeping so soundly."
We still tease her about it. And she still sleeps the sleep of the dead. A rocket could lift off from her room and she'd never hear it.
Funny story! It's amazing how loud thunder can get. I love the sound of thunder, as long as it's a little further away...
ReplyDeleteTwo days after we moved into our house, our smoke alarms went off at 2 a.m. They are hard wired, but flipping the circuit didn't turn them off. They rang for at least thirty minutes before we could shut them down. (There was no smoke or fire. We just needed new smoke alarms.)
ReplyDeleteThe scary part was that neither of my kids woke up. They slept through the entire episode -- and both had smoke alarms in their rooms, blasting away. Sleeping soundly -- that's an understatement.
Oh, yes! The commotion at the Bee Hive! "You scared? I'm not scared! Uh huh..." God bless Mom and hot cocoa! As I recall it, that was the summer of '59 and the vacation when John-John caught his first "serious" fish - a lovely mackerel. Then comes May 8, 1960 followed by Donna a few months later...That was an interesting time for ALL concerned!
ReplyDeleteWow--now that's a storm!
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a storm!
ReplyDeleteA few summers ago, lightning hit a tree next to the house, it was SUCH a bright flash and huge boom!
I slept through an evacuation of our dorm in college and the fire alarm was right above my door. Also, I was an RA responsible for helping check the building.
ReplyDeleteI loved their idea to sooth the kids and get them back to sleep.
Hot chocolate is calming, isn't it!
Our dog points her snout straight up when she hears thunder (or sirens) and howls. Then she starts drooling puddles.
ReplyDeleteI've lived inland and I've lived on the water, and electrical storms near the water are far more intense.
And, yeah, I once slept through a fire drill and evacuation in college. You just don't live that stuff down...