After going to bed late, for me, I woke up shortly after dawn to the loud sound of a close thunder crack — a sound that reminded me I had left two or three windows wide open to dispel the heat and stuffiness. The sky had already opened, so I rushed to close them. For a few moments, the rumblings of the thunder, the splatter of the rain, and the whoosh of the breeze masked most of the traffic noise, and for that moment I could have been home again, helping my mother to close the windows when a sudden thunderstorm transformed sky and land alike.

I love storms.