Maybe it's because our new apartment is at the top of a hill that looks down over Washington -- maybe that's why the lightning was cracking down right outside my open window last night. The thunder was so loud that it didn't just wake me up; the thunder was so loud that when I woke up I found myself already on my hands and knees, scrambling to the far side of the bed, diving onto the floor in pure animal terror of the spectacular noise.

I tend to exaggerate these kinds of things, but it's true, I couldn't go back to sleep until it was all over, hours later, because even with my back to the window and my eyes closed, the flare from each bolt filled the room and penetrated my eyelids and made me freeze in fear of the next earth-shattering boom.