Internship: Thunderstorms

Korrin B.

July 17, 2010 - 5:30 PM

One thing I'll miss about living in the South is the thunder. I've grown very fond of the sporadic, passionate storms that hit Atlanta periodically. I think someday I'll find myself dreaming of the lightning storms that flash through the sky like sun through a river rapid.

If you know anything about the University of Oregon, you know that it exists in an area of very persistent drizzle. A good chunk of the year is dedicated to gray, gloomy skies and heavy mists that are occasionally broken up by actual rain drops. Growing up in this environment, I have actually come to love it as well and the thought of it can easily spark nostalgia. The chromatic grays of the Pacific Northwest will always be a part of my identity.

However, growing up in this drizzle, I have never truly gotten to experience the coming of great storms. Occasionally, we will have some lightning or thunder, but only a few strikes of lightning and mostly muffled thunder. In Atlanta, the thunder comes like an earthquake and the lightning like a strobe light. The rain pours furiously, quickly flooding sidewalks and smashing down on the windshields of cars in manner that forces them to slow down. I love it. I love watching it, hearing it, smelling it. If I'm in my room and a storm hits, I turn off my air conditioner so that I can better listen to the rain and the thunder and not have it contaminated by the humming of the machine.

My favorite way to watch a storm is sitting on my front porch on the swing. It's best at night when it's cooler and you can kind of still see the rain in the darkness, but the lack of light forces you to experience it more through touch, smell, and sound. I feel very calm watching the rain this way. It makes me breathe deeper. I believe a good rainstorm can almost (almost!) have that same effect on me that running into the cold waves of the Pacific Ocean does.

One night, there wasn't any rain and no huge thunder, but there was a lot of lightning higher up in the sky and out toward the hills. My friends referred to this type of lightning as heat lightning and, also being a storm enthusiast, drove with me out toward it.

I have the feeling that my memories of Atlanta will come like its storms do. Those moments that stood out from all the rest will be unexpected, strong, melancholic, but beautiful.