About four o’clock this morning I was treated to a sound and light show like nothing I’ve heard or seen before. The prediction on the ten o’clock news last night was for thunderstorms. That’s just what we had. However, the rain didn’t start for nearly half an hour.

A child once described thunder as “two clouds bumping together.” This morning’s bumping clouds must have been sumo wrestlers. They were louder than a sonic boom. When the first wave of thunder and lightening passed without rain, the air still had the fresh aroma of a cleansing rain. Birds sang.

The second wave of thunder brought rain. Not the steady, pouring kind like one would expect with so much noise. Instead, it was intermittent – a sound that was soothing as the rain hit the tiles of our patio table and metal arms of the chairs. When the rain passed, the birds sang again. Is there anything more awesome than the natural world?