Rainstorm in Roma

Just walked home in the beginnings of a thunderstorm and am now laying in bed watching the lightning strikes illuminate the sky through our window. The thunder shakes the floors and echos in the walls. A thunderstorm right after the Ides of March… a little erie but how fitting? I've always absolutely loved thunderstorms and I have to say that they sure are beautiful and powerful in Roma. The lightening is like a show; lighting up one whole part of the sky and then jumping to the opposite side the next time. Its like a quick flood of light or pulsing light to moving around the city in a dance but now, sitting at my window, I can see the bolts and lines of lighting seeming to grace my window, lingering for a second or flicking for a couple and then disappearing into the hue of the night sky. The lightening has gotten continuously brighter and more intense, piercing into our room with its bright light. The rain hits against the window with enough force to create a soothing patter against the glass. The thunder rumbles, sounding as if it starts at a far off distance and tumbles closer becoming more powerful and loud.

When I was little I used to stand on the porch with my dad and count the time between lightening strikes and thunder… Whenever I am caught in a thunderstorm I still love to sit and watch the lightening, listen to the thunder, and feel the rain. When I'm in DC, thunderstorms always make me feel like I'm home and, even now as I sit in my room in Rome, with every close flash of lightening I imagine my dad's reaction and counting until the next rumble of thunder. Silly it may seem, but for me it's comforting and it's almost like thunderstorms always come when I'm missing my parents and need a little touch of home. Tonight the sounds of the storm lull me to sleep and in my dreams I'll be standing out on the deck of my old home in Macedon, NY counting the thunder… Dad, you would love this storm.