What the thunder(storm) did

Have just returned from a barbecue through an impressive thunderstorm. I've had a fun couple of days since I last posted, but I thought I'd just capture the present moment right now and perhaps summarise some summer fun tomorrow.

Although there were some rumbles in the sky while we were in the garden, we were inside before the rain started. Having stepped into the street, near Newnham, I realised that this was proper rain. The rain was accompanied by sheet lightning engulfing the sky and growls of thunder strikingly loud and often startlingly close. The trees on Sidgwick Avenue apparently offered some shelter, but this was in relative terms, and I was unsure whether stopping to rest under a tree where one would get wetter for longer but more slowly was a more sensible option than moving on quickly to shorten one's time in the rain. After a while, you become resigned to the meteorological circumstances. Once the rain had soaked through my fleece and shirt, as well as through my trousers and socks, the question of degrees of wetness seemed somewhat insignificant.

Having got back to my room, I took the tissues out of my trouser pockets and wrang the water out of them. I also discovered the notes in my wallet stuck together by water. Fortunately, they could be prised apart without disintegrating.

I have a recording of the Canadian theologian Don Carson complaining that our "anaemic" English thunderstorms (amongst other places in the world, Carson has spent periods of his life in Cambridge) fail to capture the awe-inspiring power of the storm imagery which often accompanies biblical theophanies (appearances of God), e.g. Psalm 29. Tonight did a good enough job for me, short of me being in fear of my life.