Hiding in my basement...

Never bothered me much. Spent most of my life in St. Petersburg, Fla., which is one of the so-called "Lightning Capitals of the World."

I've had some close calls, though. But haven't we all.

Maybe one of these smileys will work for you Cass.




I still sleep with a nightlight. And I can't go downstairs in the dark. I have to turn on the light on the stairs, then reach around and turn on the living room light before I leave the bottom step. I'm pretty good about freaking myself out with unseen things in the dark. Oh, I have to have the blinds closed at night so I don't scare myself.

Active imagination-- good for writing, bad for living.

Clair Dickson said:

Maybe one of these smileys will work for you Cass.




I still sleep with a nightlight. And I can't go downstairs in the dark. I have to turn on the light on the stairs, then reach around and turn on the living room light before I leave the bottom step. I'm pretty good about freaking myself out with unseen things in the dark. Oh, I have to have the blinds closed at night so I don't scare myself.

Active imagination-- good for writing, bad for living.

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Interesting. Darkness doesn't bother me in the least. I'm more of a claustrophobia kind of guy, I guess.

Cassiopeia said:

Oh I'm so that too...

Well, claustrophobic, not the guy part.

Click to expand...

Definitely not the guy part!

Oh, I've got the claustrophobia, too. And a fear of falling from heights. (I can get up there, but damned if I can pry my fingers off the railing to get down.)

I always felt better during storms. They say it has something to do with the ionization of the air. It's why some people feel energized while others feel antsy and panicky.

Weather seldom scares me into the basement. I'll go down there with my husband but usually just go about my business.

My dogs will bark at the thunder. They take after mommy.

I get a'scairt when I hear the thunderboomers! i grew up in Oklahoma, and man!! I came to CA around 11 and we never had thunderstorms, but now we have them occasionally. (shivers in fear)

**tightens up into ball, thinking about living on the side of a mountain during a thunderstorm**

(also afraid of heights!)

I've always loved lightning, and found it rather soothing, but I have a couple of friends who are petrified by thunderstorms. Before I met them, I never really appreciated just how much they scared people. I suppose I always thought people who said they were afraid of them were only semi-serious, but I think it's a real phobia. I'm fortunate that the only thing I'm that afraid of are heights, and I can avoid those...you can't exactly stay away from thunderstorms.

Anyway, just wanted to wish you the best of luck weathering the storm!

I love storms, provided I'm not in danger of the lightning striking me. But I've had my moments, when they feel like they're going to tear the house apart, where my heart leaps into my throat and tries to making a hasty exit.

Growing up we had a storm cellar but no basement. The storm cellar was not very far from the house, but did require us to walk around the back of the house and up the hill a bit to get to it. One time a tornado was so close mom shoved my brother and me into the fireplace and pushed the couch in front of it. Then she sat down on the couch with a beer in her hand and waited. The tornado missed us, luckily.

I am not afraid of tornadoes, just cautious.

I love thunderstorms. I love the feel of the air, the energy, the lightening flashing across the sky. I am less fond of ground strikes, especially close ones. My favorite experience with a thunderstorm was vacationing with some friends at their lake house. It had a huge porch overlooking the lake. The storm rolled in from across the lake and we sat on the porch and watched its progression. It was glorious. The lightning made patterns in the churning clouds, and then the rains came hitting the water and throwing little splashes up into the air. Some of my friends went inside the house, afraid of the lightning. A couple of us stayed on the porch for the duration, mugs of hot chocolate steaming in our hands. Nothing like it.

It has been insane. I had to wake my littlest and go sit in the crawlspace yesterday, because there was a funnel cloud just over a mile from my house.

And last evening, a clap of thunder almost tipped a vase over on my desk. I had never felt anything quite like that. It was nutty weather here for sure.

I love storms. The energy and feel of them is great for me.

Clair Dickson said:

Maybe one of these smileys will work for you Cass.




I still sleep with a nightlight. And I can't go downstairs in the dark. I have to turn on the light on the stairs, then reach around and turn on the living room light before I leave the bottom step. I'm pretty good about freaking myself out with unseen things in the dark. Oh, I have to have the blinds closed at night so I don't scare myself.

Active imagination-- good for writing, bad for living.

Click to expand...

I keep lights on, but I have small children wandering around. I don't like the dark so much, though. I can freak myself out like no other.

Cassiopeia said:

I close my blinds at night as well but I live in a neighborhood where people are mainly above me on the mountainside and can look right into my windows. Well not so much in the summer as my aspens give me good cover.

I have nightlights situated all around my house. I have very steep stairs and we have all slid down them at one time or another in the dark.

I love those smilies, btw. <----this is me. LOL

Click to expand...

I close the blinds religiously. When I was little, I was playing in my room while my parents chatted with company in the living room. I looked up and there was a guy looking in the window at me. I screamed and the guy took off. Dad and one of the guests went investigating. They found footprints in the mud under the window and the guy had removed the screen from the window. I was like two, I think.

Anywho, windows have to be covered at night or I get really uncomfortable.

I keep my windows covered now. But when I was a kid, I liked to open the windows and doors and air out the house. But now, I'm keeping the house cold and I love the dark, so no more open windows for me. Blinds and curtains both cover each window.

It's not lightning that really bothers me, it's high winds.

I'm terrified of thunderstorms, too. Worse yet, growing up in a southern family, I grew up with the awareness that any bad storm can spawn a tornado.

Storms make me a little anxious (more the worry of trees falling over, since we had our fair share of those when I was growing up.) Also, my parents and older brother would all be out on the porch when things got nasty. I think we only ever went into the basement twice. And even then, Dad was still standing on the covered front porch peering out across the neighboring golf course. Now, I (perhaps foolishly) just rely on the tornado sirens. I'm five houses away from the school... and fully insured with offsite storage of my important computer docs. Fears mostly allayed.

Now, I've never seen anything outside the dark windows at night... but I can come up with scary things TO see out there. Growing up, the only bathroom was on the first floor, but the bedrooms upstairs. So, you come down the stairs-- the front door, which was like a French door, with all the windows, is at the bottom-- turn 180 degrees to walk to the back of the house and beside the bathroom was an alcove with two windows. I'd get down okay, but I'd always run back up...