I've always said one of my favorite things is the sense of security that envelops me as I lie in bed in the dark during a spectacular summer thunderstorm.
Driving through it is another matter.
That's what I just did. It was an adventure.
I usually restrict my driving adventures to the winter snow storms, as well as my daily game of dodge ball with the deer who accompany my early-morning commute.
This morning I had another companion.
Mother Nature.
She was in a bad mood.
I probably should have waited it out at home, since the initial rumblings hit just as I was getting up. My hope - as the lightning flashes - lit up the darkened house, was that I could get the coffee made before the power went out.
The power stayed on. And the rain soon arrived. Basically it was teeming.
My sense of timing would get better, however. The downpour eased just enough for me to make a dash to the car, over the protests of my wife, who urged me to wait it out. Of course, she had other things on her mind. Like Mr. Scruffy. That's my name for my son's dog, a mutt he picked up from the pound out in West Virginia. We're dogsitting this week while my son is on vacation. He named the scruffy black mix Kansas, after Toto in 'The Wizard of Oz.' I took one look at him and deemed him 'Mr. Scruffy.'
Well, Mr. Scruffy apparently is not a big fan of thunderstorms. We discovered that this morning after he relieved himself in our bedroom.
Cleaning that up was fairly easy.
Driving to work was a bit more of an adventure.
I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've actually considered pulling off the road and stopping in a storm. This morning was one of them. At some points it was hard to see anything, not a good thing when standing water seems to be everywhere on the roads.
The rain seemed to be hovering over my car, following me east as I snaked along the drenched roads, down West Chester Pike, along Route 352 and onto the Route 1 Bypass. The lights at Routes 352 and 452 were out. That should make for an adventurous rush hour if they can't get them back on.
There were several spectacular lightning strikes that flashed directly in front of my car. It was wild - scary and yet at the same time oddly appealing.
I guess it's the desire for something different than the drive that I can basically do in my sleep.
A severe thunderstorm warning and flash flood watch remains in effect for much of the region until 8:30 this morning.
I'll still take rain over snow any day.
It's been a summer of storms. And Mother Nature put another exclamation point on it this morning.
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