Southern Virginia isn't supposed to be the land of the thunderstorm, but it certainly has been lately. The severity of them is nothing compared to those I saw in Nebraska, when they came rolling across the open plains and fields. Dad and I would watch them from our screened-in porch as the rain pounded on the tin roof and made talking impossible.

And again tonight as I write it's starting to rain.

Last night it was bad. We kept the windows open because it wasn't that warm yesterday -- which I think is slightly unseasonable for this area. I remember sweltering in early June in my elementary school classroom that wasn't air conditioned, and lately it's been only about 75 degrees at the warmest.

The rain and the thunder woke me last night around 3am, I think it was. My brain doesn't really function well enough in the middle of the night to read a clock. Even if it is digital... I laid there and listened to the rain for a bit, then got tired of that and wanted to go back to sleep. But the rain and the thunder was just too loud, and I was awake for much of the night.

At one point my puppy curled up between my ankles -- he doesn't like thunder at all. I didn't worry about him until I felt him start to shake, his entire body quivering. So I called him up so I could cuddle with him against my belly, and he stopped shaking, at least for a little while.

I managed to fall asleep at one point, only to have a dream that I was still at the college in my dorm. There was some large event going on, like graduation, and I was out of the dorm. I had packed up all of my stuff, but somehow I knew my stuff was in danger. And sure enough, when I managed to get back to my room it was on fire. I had to use a penny to jimmy the lock to get in because I'd already given my key to the RA who checked me out. Just a weird dream...

And since it's thundering and lightning out again, I think I need to get offline.