Category Archives: memories

light the corners of my mind

parenthood, throwback thursday 1 Comment

TBT: Thunderstorms

I’ve written about this a few times before — probably because the memory is so vivid and special to me.

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One of my first vague memories is of being cradled in my mother’s arms, standing in the open front doorway. I could smell and feel the rain, and hear it, and hear the thunder, and all the while my mother was telling me how beautiful it was.

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I remember the feel of the mist on my face, the sound of occasional thunder and the flash of lightning, the constant patter of rain, and the clean smell on the wind. As I got older, Mom would stand with me at the door, and I remember her telling me how pretty the rain is.

– – – – –

It was always dark — but the dark of an encroaching storm, rarely of night. The mist would barely brush our faces, along with a sweet, cool breeze.

When I got a little older — say, school-age, or close to it — we’d watch for the flashes of lightning, then count: one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand (which I later learned is backward from how most people do it), then either nod knowingly or jump, startled, when the thunder finally rumbled or cracked its reply.

“That must have been close to the high school,” said Mom one time. Usually it was much farther away: nine miles, about.

I grew to love thunderstorms. The smell of them, the sound, the beautiful contrast between the clouds and the land. The beauty, the drama. When we moved to Florida, I discovered that it would thunderstorm every afternoon during part of the year. I would sit in my bedroom, listening to music or reading, smelling the rain and watching it sheet down the open casement window.

Later on, I learned that my mother had purposefully instilled in me that love of storms, because she had been made so afraid of them by one particular incident in her childhood. Even so, I’m glad she did.

Thunderstorms, to me, are moments when I can stand at the open door, or sit on the front porch, or gaze out an open window, and let my senses take over. I breathe in that clean-smelling air, feel the mist on my face, and I’m four years old again, and there’s nothing but me and the rain.

pointing to a rainbow

rainbow over our apartment, 1980

– – – – –

Last night, Connor woke up around 4:30am, scared of the thunderstorm. I hugged him while he told me that the thunder was scary.

“I think it’s pretty,” I said.

He thought about it. “I think so, too,” he agreed. Then he remembered what he’d learned in preschool earlier in the week, and his eyes lit up: “And when the rain is done, your flowers will be growed!”

Tonight, though, he wasn’t so sure the thunder was pretty. So, I pulled up the blinds, opened the window, and knelt with him at the windowsill behind the curtains as we watched the rain. The breeze carried the scent of rain into the bedroom, and I felt a fine mist on my face for just a moment.

I put my arm around his waist. “The rain is so pretty,” I said. He agreed, and we watched the dark clouds roll by, and watched the rain fall in puddles on the driveway.

“Mommy, look!” he said. “You forgot to put those sticks in the garbage!”

Ah, well. It was a nice moment while it lasted.

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2014 Year In Review

So, what happened last year? Not nearly as many life-altering events as the past couple of years, thankfully — not to say that things still weren’t interesting at times.

(And, yes, I know I’m getting this out a little later than usual… but at least it’s still January, right?)

snowDuring the winter of 2013-2014 (aka the Polar Vortex), Toledo got 7 feet and 2 inches of snow in total — that’s over two feet more than normal — and saw temps dipping down to -15°F. It was a particularly miserable and treacherous winter, and it killed several of my plants to boot.

 

sunroom furnitureWe bought furniture in the spring. In March, we bought a new bed: a California King. We’re sleeping better (for the most part), and we’re no longer stealing each other’s blankies, since there’s plenty to go around. Then, in April, we bought furniture for our sunroom, so we can all properly enjoy the outdoors indoors.

car accidentIn April, I got in my second-ever car accident — as with the first one, through no fault of my own. A semi driver didn’t judge the wet conditions properly and collided with me from behind on the expressway. That resulted in my first-ever trip to the ER, my first CT scan, my first case of whiplash, and my first dealings with injury claims representatives. I am now paranoid of not only being in another driver’s blind spot, but of leaving assured clear distance and being tailgated.

toddlers in a hammockIn May, we held our 2nd Annual Memorial Day Weekend Shindig. Ten adults and two toddlers hanging out in the sunroom on the new furniture, enjoying sausages and hot dogs and snacks and desserts and one another’s company. Good times.

 

don't drink the waterIn August, Toledo’s water supply got overrun with blue-green algae and its byproducts, rendering it unsafe to drink for a full weekend. Mass panic ensued all over town, of course. Aaron went out and got jugs of well water from a friend’s house, then handily found plenty of bottled water at the store, anyway.

flowersAll through the spring and summer, I got really into my gardening. I took two full days and two half-days off of work specifically for gardening purposes, in addition to spending many Saturday naptimes outside. I managed to rid my beds of the invasive Maypop vine (mostly) and get the front fence looking neat and tidy.

rashIn September, after one of my last gardening days of the season, I got into some trumpet vine and had a severe allergic reaction. A trip to urgent care got me a steroid shot, plus steroid pills and antihistamines, and the knowledge that I am exceptionally allergic to trumpet creeper. Luckily, a co-worker’s son (who isn’t allergic) came to my house and removed it for me, taking it home and transplanting it at his own house.

the flashConnor enjoyed his first real Halloween this year! On October 30th, he and I went to Harper’s house and handed out candy and enjoyed beautiful weather and a fire in the firepit. On Halloween, Daddy stayed home from work and we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood in the rain. We only hit two houses, but Connor had a great time, all the same.

new specsIn November, I got new glasses for the first time in about four years. My prescription actually hadn’t changed much at all.

 

 

thanksgiving dinnerOn Thanksgiving, we drove about 2.5 hours to Grammy’s apartment and had a Very Nice Time. Aaron’s brother came along, and Uncle Phil made a cameo appearance. It was the first time we’d seen my Mom’s apartment, and hopefully it won’t be the last.

 

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TBT: Diana on the Playground, circa 1983

Me at age 7

I’m putting me at about age seven in this picture, so it’s probably the Summer of 1983. There are several pictures of me from this particular trip to the playground, but I think this one is my favorite. It captures so much… if you know what to look for.

I was a happy kid, for the most part, except for kids teasing me about my weight. Kids called me fat, but I was mostly just big overall. I was the tallest girl (or the second-tallest) in my grade for most of elementary school, and I was no beanpole. I wasn’t obese, though, so kids were just being kids when they told me that I was “as big as the whole universe.”

Mom frequently told me to be careful that I didn’t “fall and bust [my] head open,” and you can see that right hand holding on to the jungle gym (or was it the tall slide?) to be sure of just that.

That waist-length hair was so much a part of who I was for so long. I was the girl with the long hair. (And look at that fantastic color!) I didn’t get it cut until we moved to Florida the next year and I picked up head lice, at which point we cut probably six inches off to make the lice-combing easier. I was devastated to only have hair down to my shoulder blades.

And, really. It’s the ’80s. Just look at those shorts.