Notes After a Summer Storm

I love weather.  Mention anything meteorological, and I'm all ears, eyes, and curious.  Maybe it's because I developed an interest decades ago when my dad and I were taking flying lessons.Whatever, the reason, I can't help but feel wonder and awe when observing the weather; friendly or foul, majestic or menacing.

This weekend, we had, what in my experience was, a typical summer severe thunderstorm:  Lots of rain, some flash flooding, thunder and lightening that lit up the sky.  Ahh, such beauty, sound, power, energy, and wonder!  And of course, rain, since we're in a drought this season.

Some of the post-storm reactions from my neighbors surprised me:  "That was insane!" "This storm was terrifying, OMG!" "Yikes!" "I could live without another one of those!" I scratched my kerfluffled head over the drama. "Hmph, Just another summer day in Texas."

Except we weren't in Texas; and powerful thunderstorms that we took for granted in Texas are not the norm in Massachusetts.  They are a treat, for some.  And for others, they are a nightmare. Much like my neighbors in Houston, who stay home when the city shuts down with just a coating of snow, many of my Massachusetts neighbors were  reacting to something that was not the norm for them, something they were not prepared for, something different enough to be out of their comfort zone.

However, some of my neighbors, like me, were embracing the storm like giggly kids throwing Mentos into a bottle of Coke :  "Wow! That was awesome!"  "Spectacular!" "I could listen and watch this all night!"  "Make it do it again!"

Heh.

All of this reminds me of how we deal with each other, and I mean specifically people who are not, on the surface at least, like us, who look differently, act differently, think differently.  Some of us find that difference, the Other, to be curious, beautiful, interesting, something to ponder or learn about.  And some of us find that difference in the Other to be scary, something to avoid, something to demonize or ascribe to a darker force, to even consider it unnatural, abnormal.

When we open our mind to observing and respecting the thunderstorm, we learn how to live with it, appreciate it's beauty and power.  We learn to not stand under a tree in a lightening storm or to not drive quickly through flood waters.  The thunderstorm, we learn, is not inherently good or evil; it's a series and alignments of pressures, precipitation, and events that lead to a storm.  When we learn about the thunderstorm, it ceases to be the Other, and it's natural part of all life makes sense.

Observe. Respect. Learn.  Shouldn't we be using this in dealing with each other?