Rolling Thunder

There was a lightning storm last night. I cannot sleep through lightning and thunder---ever. I'm always surprised to see Mark sleeping peacefully through the crashes and flashes of light and the fact that none of my girls Von Trapp their way up to my bedroom to ride out the storm. Everyone continues to slumber, except me. As I waited to fall back to sleep, I remembered one of my first lightning storms. My family was on vacation and we drove to Yellowstone Park. I grew up in Portland, OR, and there must not have been the right weather conditions for lightning in that locale, because I remember being amazed at the storm we encountered on that trip. We parked the gray Dodge Ram Van on the side of the rode and watched the light show. My mom had the kids documenting the trip in a family journal, and that night it was my turn to do the entry. I drew a picture of our van, the hill we parked on, and the lightning storm. I can't really remember what the storm looked like, but the illustrated picture is clear in my mind. The event made such an impression on me; it is one of the few things I remember about that trip. (The smelly mud pots were another)