A Sound Of Thunder

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So there I was, very early this morning, at 5:00 am, lying in bed not sleeping. My sleeping tends to be erratic at the best of times, but recently full, restful nights tend to be few and far between. (This doesn’t make me especially unique anymore. Onward: )

My fellow New Yorkers know that, very early this morning – just around 5:00 am, as it happens – we were treated to a thunderstorm of uncommon force and activity. “The devil’s beating his wife” was a common expression in the American South some seventy years ago to describe a particularly heavy thunderstorm, and it applies here.

I took very little notice of the storm at first – merely the soft sussurrus of rain, noticed unconsciously if at all – until the first thunderclap hit. It sounded like no thunderclap I have ever heard. It sounded big, and it sounded loud, and it sounded close, and there was an extended bass rumble to it that seemed to last longer than any normal clap of thunder ought to.

I did not at first recognize it as thunder, that sound.

What I thought I was hearing was the sound of something very big, exploding in the dark morning sky.

Of course I rushed to the window, trying to see something in the darkness and the rain. I don’t know what I was expecting – perhaps the residual glow of fireball dying across the river from me, perhaps marking the death throes of the Empire State Building. But I saw nothing, and all I heard was the rain.

And then the second thunderclap came. And it sounded like nothing more than thunder. I was back on my feet; I was on familiar ground; my heart could stop hammering in my chest.

And I went back to bed – finally, truly, in that place where truths come to rest – living in the frightening new world in which we all dwell.

2

My goodness, this exact same thing happened to me! (FYI, Pixcellent lives a few blocks away from me, so I do really mean the same exact thunder).

First, that thunder was exceptionally loud, n’est pas?

But, more importantly, I am so annoyed at myself for being afraid of the weather. It’s just so stupid and it makes me feel like the terrorists won some moral victory and I’m the schmuck who rolled over.

I’ve also noticed on the streets that New Yorkers seem a little jumpy. Sirens – before Tuesday, I didn’t even notice sirens. I could tune out a police siren in about .4 seconds. Now, when the police car goes by, I see everyone’s expression change.

3

Jesus, it’s easy to understand. I live on the West Coast of Canada, and I’m been spooked by even more innocuous things: Repeated blasts of a foghorn… Aircraft. A few weeks ago, my girlfriend and I were woken up at six AM by an exploding boiler in the basement of her apartment building. We (and everyone else in the building) looked out the window, and said, “Hmmm. That sounded just like a bomb. Wonder what it was?” and went back to sleep. About an hour later, they evacuated the building because of a gas leak. I’m sure if it happened now, everyone would be outside, freaking out, in about 3 minutes.

Pixcellent- thanks for that poetic post. It communicates something about what it must be like in NYC right now that doesn’t come across on CNN.

4

Too unsettled to contruct a grammatical sentence, even.

5

sneaks up behind all of you with a blown-up balloon
pricks balloon
KABLAM!
d&r

6

Aww, I thought this was about the Ray Bradbury story.
A few weeks ago there was a storm here, and lightning hit right across the street. Quite…interesting. :eek:

7

Pixellent, you described a response I bet a lot of people have had. Our lives have changed, haven’t they?

I would like to nominate this for Euty’sspecial teemings page.

8

Pixellent, that was an excellent post, and this is not meant to be a horrible nitpick…but…

I live in the South, and quite a few of my relatives are throwbacks to the “Southern belle” or “Southern gentleman” archetypes.

Anyhow, they don’t say “the devil’s beating his wife” when a bad thunderstorm comes. They use it when a rain/thunder storm occurs and the sun is still shining.

(Also called “crying in the sun.”)

YMMV.

9

And on the first thread I ever initiated, Abby. I’m honored. Seriously.

10

Thanks, Nocturne. However, you do realize that – disclaimers aside – that was indeed a horrible nitpick…? :smiley:

What can I say? My automatic fact-checker was on the fritz that day. :wink:

11

Thy will be done.

12

Earlier in the week, we had a bad storm come through the Chicago area. Nearby thunder and lightning woke me from a sound sleep, and the though that was in my mind as I woke was “Oh my god, it’s a bomb. They’re bombing us.” It took me a few seconds to realize it was only thunder, and a few minutes to calm my nerves. This was also one of those times when I could have really used a warm body to snuggle with, just to have the comfort of someone else there.

13

Pixellent:

I apologize. :slight_smile: Sorry…sometimes my Southern-ness can’t help but bubble out and make a mess. :wink:

(I scream at the first loud clap of thunder during a storm. I’m a wuss.)

14

Oh, good lord, Nocturne, that was hardly worth an apology. :slight_smile: When you’re right, you’re right.

Of course you can’t expect a damnyankee to know anything about genuine Southern expressions. However, to rush to my own defense – not that I’m about to be tried and sentenced or anything – I seem to remember reading about the “devil’s beating” expression in a book written by an actual Southerner. It may have been somewhere in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, but then again it may not have been.

15

Ditto. Just read the Ray Bradbury story a few weeks ago, nd I opened this thread with that same thought…

Here in CT I probably endured the same storm you did. Knowing the volume the thunder can reach, I can understand how you could make that mistake. Whenever there’s a loud clap of thunder my dog always runs under the bed. She doesn’t understand what it is…

16

Had a bad storm here a couple of days after the attack. The first clap of thunder just about knocked me off the couch. It was the loudest, sharpest thunder I’ve ever heard. It did not sound like thunder at all. For a few moments, I was absolutely terrified.

Then it thundered again, and this time, it sounded right.

I think we’re all going to be skittish about loud noises for a long, long time to come.

17

Sorry to go off topic and nitpick, but shouldn’t that be n’est-ce pas?

18

I agree with Nocturne, for what it’s worth.

But I do agree this was a very good thread (especially great for your first one…)

I don’t seem to be having the same reaction to thunder that everyone else is having, because I live in Florida, and if I did react to thunder that way, I’d spend most of every afternoon in summertime under the bed! I do understand how that reaction can occur, however. :frowning: