March 26, 2022 - News Post

I miss thunder.

When I lived in Central Florida, this was something I would hear all the time.

Every summer afternoon, around 2 p.m., tremendous, powerful storms would roll through. The storms could be soothing, or they could be terrifyingly close. Something to nap to, or something to jolt you awake as your whole building shakes.

Although I wasn't born in Florida, I spent a good deal of my life there. For a long time, it was my default setting. Traveling somewhere else, or eventually moving, would frequently be compared to Florida. (I have more to say on that subject, but I'm only talking about thunder today.)

With thunder comes lightning, and with lightning comes danger.

I've been through hurricanes, several tornado warnings, floods, an earthquake, blizzards, and multiple tropical storms. These have been terrible, sometimes horrifying events. And yes, thrilling and/or exciting. But no matter how bad the weather, no matter how stormy, I've never experienced thunder like in Central Florida.

Since moving to Hawaii, I've heard exactly one thunderclap in four years. I live in the hills. It has been known to rain every day for months.

Never thunder, though. Not here.

I miss thunder.

I left Florida 10 years ago. I have only heard thunder a handful of times since then. So when I do hear a booming crash, it's an extremely rare treat.

A few months back, my wife and I were laying down to sleep a little earlier than usual. It has been raining pretty hard for a week or so, and we were taking advantage of the soothing rain sounds to lull us to sleep.

Then, around 10:30, we heard it: Thunder!!!

We smiled to ourselves. We even commented on how it just sounded like it was rolling and rolling, but we hadn't seen any lightning. What a soothing, peaceful way to nod off to sleep.

And sleep we did.

The next morning, we awoke and spoke about how nice it was to hear thunder after all this time. It had honestly been years since we've heard anything lengthy and loud like that. What a calming, nostalgic experience.

Until we checked the news.

Turns out, thunder had nothing to do with it. Those sounds were coming from a landslide.

A waterfall of mud and debris took out a house not far from us. No one was hurt, but I can't image losing a house as a pleasant experience.

It wasn't the first time this would happen since I've moved here, and it won't the last. It rains a lot here, and many many people live on or below a steep hill, myself included.

I miss thunder.

-Jeff