Flashes and flashbacks

Like with most things I am terrified of, I can pinpoint the exact moment lightning began to scare the bejesus out of me.

I was in my early teens, and the mother used to teach in a school that ended a good hour after the brother and I got home. So as the responsible elder child, I was in charge of making sure the brother and I changed after getting home, ate our lunch, and (ideally) started on our homework by the time she got home. Which of course meant that we would get home, put on the TV, dawdle over our lunch, and then squawk and change five minutes before she would actually get home. (Oh, like you didn't know this, Ma.)

Good times.

Anyway, one afternoon, we were having our lunch while watching TV. I can't remember if a storm was already ongoing, or if it sprung up out of nowhere, but I do remember that our sofa was against the windows, and the TV screen faced the balcony door. And that it got darker as the afternoon progressed. And suddenly, out of the blue, a streak of lightning flashed across our TV screen, all the way from across that long living room of ours. And I'm pretty sure I grabbed my poor younger brother and screamed.

Not so good times.

I love rain, and I'm quite fond of thunderstorms. But lightning, to put it bluntly, frightens the crap out of me.

Last night, as I left work, after hearing about tornado warnings coming and going in various parts of the city, I looked up at the sky and saw lightning continuously flashing in the sky several miles away. In the direction I was headed. A part of my brain said it looked a lot like when the particle accelerator exploded on The Flash, but the rest of my brain kept having flashbacks to that afternoon all those years ago.

A useless lil' vent

Now who on earth uses Bloglines to subscribe to my blog?!?

Bloglines is funny, you know. One, I don't think I'll use it that often anyway, because why should I sign in there separately to read my feeds (is that what they're called? I'm little clueless about all this terminology) when I have Google Reader doing a very nice job for me, and two, for some reason they won't let me claim my blog. And believe you me, I've been trying every six months for nearly two years now - mainly because I forget all about it for the rest of the time. I suspect it's because of the whole old Blogger-new Blogger problem, because they basically don't accept my Gmail ID as my freakin' Blogger Username!

I have a cold. Because I got wet in the rain. The rain which apparently indicates that the monsoons have hit Delhi two week earlier than expected for the first time in 108 years. Which doesn't make sense to me at all, because as far as I'm concerned, there was no summer this year. It's been raining for months!

I had planned to vent about something else as well, and it's completely slipped my mind now.

I hate colds. They make me all miserable and lousy-feeling and drained of energy and even venting doesn't make me feel better. Sheesh.

Brrr...

It's like the Weather Man just can't keep track of what the weather's supposed to be like in February.

What I don't like about winter: Washing my hands in that cold water.

What I really really don't like about winter: The wind!!! :(

What I do like about winter: Wearing a jacket after a few days' break and finding money in the pocket!!! :)

Pitter patter...

Last week, I was going around asking everyone if it's supposed to be this warm in February. Today, (well, yesterday, really) I was asking everyone if it's supposed to be raining this time of the year.

You see, the thing about the weather is (as my wisdomous fellow blogger pointed out some months back), you never really know for sure what kind of weather you're supposed to expect, particularly in the between-season months. I mean, yes, we in the NCR know that May & June will be blazing, July & August will probably see some rain, and December & January will be freezing. What about the rest?

It's those in-between months when you don't really know what to expect. When the weather starts fluctuating like it has been for the last couple of weeks, are we experiencing a warm spell in cold weather or a cold spell in warm weather?

The last couple of days have been my favourite kind of weather - cool, breezy, the hint of rain in the air... Bliss! It's the kind of weather that makes you want to curl up with a good book, or go for a walk (with someone other than your utterly spoilt and indisciplined dog), or go for a long drive with the windows open, or just sit facing the wind with your eyes closed.

It rained off and on all through yesterday, in varying degrees, from drizzling to downright pouring. Have you ever stood under a building at dusk and watched the lights shine on the rain as it falls to the earth? Isn't it one of the most beautiful sights ever?

No, rain doesn't come without bringing its share of pitfalls. Lightning for example. And the fact that currently (and I quote) my "beloved friend is grievously ill because of it." But I refuse to get into those. It takes a lot to ruin my mood when it rains.