Chad Adams - Making Nature Sacred: T-Storms

I thought Gatta's section 4, "YES! in Thunder", in chapte 3, was really interesting. John Updike proves an interesting point in his writing in the New Yorker about how he found a sense of security and assurance by watching a specific thunderstorm outside of his hotel room. I think it's interesting becuase I use to sit in my garage with a lawn chair and just watch the lightning strike and hear the thunder rumble, and I loved doing this and felt a sense of assurance as well. I think this feeling is bizarre because when you think of a huge, striking bolt of lightning or a thunderous roar, the first thing that comes to mind isn't assurance and peace, but violence and death. According to the U.S. National Weather Service, 73 people die from lightning strikes each year and hundreds more suffer life-debilitating injuries like memory loss, attention deficits, sleep disorders, numbness, or dizziness. Yet some how thunderstorms ease some people into a sense of peace, including myself. Then you think of how some dogs and other creatures that can sense danger react to lightning storms. They hide under the table or crawl in their cage and start whimpering, and now that I think about it, some people do the same! Maybe it's the thought and feeling that we know were safe watching these bolts strike from inside a garage or a hotel room that brings this peace and assurance.
~Chadams