Thunderstorms

'Twas a dark a stormy night--that's really the way it is in Texas tonight. Last night there were severe tornados to the north and west of us, and tonight we're under flash flood and thunderstorm alerts--"some may be severe" they say. That does a lot of things to your psyche. For a couple of days I've not been as upbeat and happy as I usually like to think I am, and I remember a psychiatrist whose wife said when barometric pressure fell their phone rang off the wall.
But I am also reminded of my friend Charles, 90 years old, who announced the other day that he had changed his attitude. I asked how he'd done that, and he said he'd had a talk with himself. I said I often had talks with myself and they were usually neither as effective or quick acting as his seemed to be. His reply? "I had a very intelligent listener." Today I'm wondering if my listener is not as intelligent!
Storms really bring two complications to my life: Scooby, my dog, and my computer. Scooby is terrified of storms. When I got him, an abused dog from the Humane Society, he literally went ballistic during storms. The first storm after I had him he hid under my desk and pawed at my legs until I had bruises. He's gotten better over the years (four now) and I think it's because he feels more secure. But he's really unhappy tonight, even bolted inside when I put his food outside--and he never overlooks food! Just now I explained he had to go potty before he came in for the night, but he went reluctantly--and only because I put a leash on him.
And then there's the computer. I'm terrified of losing it--partly because of the information stored on it and partly because it's such an integral part of my routine. I sit at my desk and work in the evenings, and I always have one ear listening for new emails. Without a computer, my days would be empty. I view that as sort of a deficiency confession and wonder if I should give up the computer for a week, as some people give up TV. I'm not ready for that, though, so I unplug and disconnect it every time I hear near thunder--I dismiss distant thunder--and then hook it all up again. A royal pain! But tonight I've gotten lots done--several writing projects--and I'll turn it off before I go to bed. And of couse I'll let poor Scooby in so he can sleep next to my bed.
So far we've had gentle rains, really good for gardens. But I keep moving some potted plants under cover that I think might suffer if we got a heavy rain--always a threat. So my pencil tree, cilantro, and new pot of chives are under the porch roof. My old pot of chives that comes up remarkably year after year is so hardy I never worry about it.
Tomorrow I must take my car in to see why the brakes groan when I back out of the driveway and then never make another noise all day. Nuisance, nuisance, nuisance.
I would say my outlook is not positive tonight, but it will be better tomorrow--even though storms are expected.