The Stranger in the Night

A couple of nights ago it stormed...BAD! Those that know me...know I HATE THE RAIN! I hate everything about it...mainly how it makes your hair frizzy. I hate feeling wet when I don't want to intentionally be wet. I hate that it looks gloomy and gray. But there's nothing like driving in terrential downpours!!!! I don't fear much in life. It used to be that my only fear was alligators. But since I have moved to Tennessee my new fear is driving in BAD rain (especially the LOUD THUNDER that goes along with it). In California, we would call rain what I would call sprinkling here. Rain here has HUGE DROPS! I remember the first week I was here in June of 2000. I was getting a new cell phone with a Nashville number. When I entered the Sprint store...it was sunny and clear. I couldn't have been in there longer than a half an hour. My parents were still here from moving me out. We were about to leave the store and it was raining HARDER than I had ever seen in my life. I kind of laughed. We waited for about 2 minutes and it didn't let up. So we decided to run to the car...which was probably 30 feet from the front door of the store. So we ran...and were ABSOLUTELY SOAKED by the time we got in the car. I thought...man it must be a freak storm! (In central California where I am from, it doesn't rain from May until October...so this was VERY peculiar to me.) Little did I know it rains AT LEAST twice a week here in the Summertime. Anyways...back to a couple of nights ago. I was in Green Hills coming home at about 11pm. As I left Green Hills driving south on the 65 I saw all this AMAZING lightning. I have to admit...it was BEAUTIFUL. But that was because where I was...it WASN'T raining. Then it dawned on me, I am about to drive right into that! My stomach started to hurt. I thought well surely it's not that bad. It started sprinkling...I kept driving. It started to rain...I kept driving. The terrential downpour began...I slowed to 25 miles per hour...I kept driving. Lightning was so powerful and so close to me that it knocked out the radio station for a good 10 seconds everytime a big one hit...I begin to get white knuckles...and I kept driving. I then couldn't see the lines on the road...I slowed down to 10 miles per hour...I begin to panic and beg with God to please let it lighten up and to get me home safely...and I kept driving. Normally when rain gets this bad...I pull over to the shoulder for a couple of minutes. But I'm on the freeway...I can't see the shoulder...I don't want to stop in the middle of the freeway and risk getting hit by traffic...and it's 11:20pm and I'm by myself...I kept driving. My eyes started to well up with tears even though I couldn't blink...and I kept driving. FINALLY...my exit! Maybe I will pull into the gas station for a couple of minutes. Then I remember...I'm by myself and it's 11:30pm. So I kept driving. The rain calmed a bit and I could actually speed up to about 40 miles per hour. It stayed that way for the next 10 minutes or so...I was so thankful. I am about 3 miles away from my house...PRAISE THE LORD. My cheeks are damp...I still haven't blinked...my calf hurts because I'm so tense and I keep moving my foot from the brake to the gas to the brake to the gas...and my knuckles are still white. Then I hear the crackle of thunder...oh no...NOT AGAIN. The terrential downpour turned into HAIL! So now I hear this AWFUL noise on the hood and roof of my car to go along with the white knuckles and tense calf muscle. Back to 10 miles per hour. FINALLY I pull onto my street...It's 11:52. What normally should have taken 25 - 30 minutes took 55 minutes! I have NEVER been that terrified in my life. Well...I can think of 1 other time that involved being in an airplane and dropping 2000 feet in 5 seconds and all the oxygen masks dropped from above. But besides that...TERRIFIED. But alas...I am home...why am I still terrified? I was so emotional that I almost started sobbing. I knew Steve would be asleep because he usually goes to bed around 10pm. I get into the kitchen, take off my heels and continue to hear the hail and rain tap on the windows and see the lightning. I make my way up the staircase. It was straight out of a horror movie...I think I could actually hear the eerie music as I walked up the stairs. (It's a good thing I like a good thriller.) As I am about to step into our bedroom...I heard the loudest crack of Thunder followed by an AMAZING flash of lightning that I can only relate to what mega celebrities must deal with when they are on the red carpet. It was blinding. And at that moment...my husband SCREAMED at the top of his lungs. Immediately I yelled..."IT'S ME...YOUR WIFE". And he layed down and I ran into our closest and couldn't help but start laughing. All of a sudden the fear went away...it was kind of nice to follow that up with a good laugh. It was nice to hop into bed and laugh together and cuddle as the downpour continued.