Rumble of Thunder

Most people have a vision of high, arid plains when they think of Texas. It shocks folks when they learn that most of Texas is not desert, in fact Lufkin, my home town, is located on the edge of the great southern piney woods. It rains here. Sometimes in the late winter and early spring it rains almost everyday. Kind of like Monsoon season, only with less rice fields. Last year was a dry year however, and this year has not been a real wet one, yet. Being something of a rancher, I like the rain, even when it is raining 10-12 inches a week.
Spring came in with a mighty crash Monday, and it came a little early. About 3:00 AM I was awaken by the flashes of lightning. I also heard the crash of thunder in the distance. I don’t like lightning, for several reasons. First; I am a lightning survivor. It is a long story, but a good one. I will have to write about it later, but because I know the pain that a bolt of lighting can cause, I do not want to be hit again. Second; our house is full of electronics. We have four computers, not counting lap tops or hand helds, five televisions, and numerous VCRs and DVD players. If our home received a direct hit from lightning it would look like the fourth of July with all the sparks and flames.
Even though I don’t like lightning, Spike hates thunder worse. Spike is basically a little kid, and is scared easily. He sleeps in a large pet carrier known as "Spikes House." He is an inside dog, and when we aren’t around he stays in this house. When the thunder starts, Spike starts to talk. He doesn’t howl long however, he spends the rest of the storm shaking in stark terror. The storm kept me awake, even thought I had a full day that started at 5:00 AM. I did not realize how much it had rained until I went outside the next morning. My back yard was impersonating the Amazon River, something it does when we get lots of rain. By daybreak it seemed that the storm was over, and it would be a normal day.
I had a prayer breakfast at church, and I took all the boys,(free breakfast is free breakfast.) I would usually walk Spike before I would leave in the morning, but I left early and Spike does not like to get out of his house too early, especially after being kept awake the night before by the storm. By the time I was returning to the house after dropping off B and G at school, it was getting very dark again. It was almost as if the daylight was going backwards, from early morning light to darkness. Before I could get Spike out to walk, it started to rain. That is not true. It started to POUR! But Spike had to go, and bad. He stood at the door with his little legs crossed looking up at me, wandering why I waited to take him out so long. Had J been around, she would have made me walk him anyway, just me and Spike and an umbrella. To make things worse, the umbrella would be for Spike.
She was not home, so Spike and I watched the rain come and waited for it to stop. When it finally let up, we bolted out the front door and Spike barely made it to the lawn before he hiked his leg and let out a big puppy sigh. Yes, it was a rainy day. This is springtime in East Texas, so hopefully there will be more of them.