Happy Thoughts on Valentine's Day

As you, my precious and happy readers, may have noticed, I write a lot of heavy ranting slop.

I'm pissed about this!


I find this such-and-such thing annoying!


Feel sorry for me because I'm a whiny piece of trash!


You get the picture.

So I'm going to give it a go writing something not so cloudy. Thunderstorms and rain are nice, but we all need some sunny days. And what better day than Valentine's Day? I love you, Wanda! (She's my wife).

Speaking of thunderstorms and rain, I like a good storm. One of those big mothers that roll in late in the afternoon. The heat has been oppressive all day, and then dark clouds start to gather. The sun gets whisked to the shadows by ghostly grey fingers and the dirty cotton clouds menace. Thunder rumbles in the distance and an occasional flash of lightning dances across the canvas. And then the rain just starts to pour. And the smell after that rain hits the hot-as-shit asphalt is heavenly! If we're lucky, the storm will roll away soon after and the sun just might peek out. That's the best time--after a storm. Everything smells fresh and looks marvelous.

You know what else smells good? Grass. After some rain it smells good, sure. But a great smell is after grass has been cut! One of those signs of spring/summer, you can always tell when people have been mowing grass. I remember a time, shortly after my dad and I had moved here to Lincoln. I was about to start high school and was feeling crabby so he had me write down a list of good things or things that I'm grateful for. I don't remember much of what I put on there, but I do remember I put something about the smell of fresh-cut grass on a baseball field. Smell is powerful! And apparently I have some unhealthy addiction to the smell of grass. Could be worse, I suppose.

I'm grateful to have a wife that I love dearly and who loves (puts up with) me. I'm grateful for our two cats, my friends and my family. I'm grateful to have a nice house to live in and to have reliable transportation. Call me a filthy, spoiled materialistic American, but I'm grateful for my Xbox. And I love playing fragtastic war games on it with my friends.

I'm grateful for my health. Aside from my fat ass. That I am not grateful for. Shoot, it's not like I worked hard to get that ass, either! If I worked harder for it, maybe I'd appreciate it more (exercise exercise exercise diet exercise diet diet diet).

I know Valentine's Day is a horrible holiday abhorred by singles and associated with diabetes-inducing levels of sugar, sappy cards, pretty flowers, and gorgeous bloody diamonds. It's also a good day to think about what you appreciate in your life. So lift your weepy leaden soul from the dark ditch of despair on this day (and on other days, too!) and take a look at the good things in your life. You may be surprised.

Flash; Thunder

There's nothing quite like the tickle of anticipation and slight unease in the pit of your stomach as you await the arrival of an impending summer thunderstorm. It's almost as if the hairs on the back of your neck are standing up and you've been kicked in the gut. Standing out on someones porch or talking nervously in a parking lot while you feel the charge of all the particles in the air and a filmy haze seems to descend upon you and your surroundings. The coming storm, ready to unleash a violent and yet gentle lashing upon the earth. Scouring the soil of all its troubles and your mind of all its heartache and pain, if not for just a little while. Again, there's nothing quite like it. The crazed yet silent calm of a blizzard is close, but still no match for the thunderstorm. It's mesmerizing and therapeutic to sit at a window and watch, or to stand out amidst the deluge.

I hear there are some storms that are supposed to come to Lincoln tomorrow. It may only be March, but I hope we get something that's at least close to a summer storm. I could use some good weather therapy.