The Thunder Clap: Time to Hit the Play Button Again
Hmmm,did you jump out of your chair on Thursday morning?
Iwas at my laptop absorbed in working Thursday morning as a torrential downpourof rain arrived. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about thatconsidering had we have had more rain in the last five or 6 weeks than we hadfor much of last summer. Rain is a necessity even it spoils our plansoccasionally.
Butwhat did startle me was a particularly loud crack of thunder – the kind thatsends dogs scuttling under the bed in fear. It made my head snap to attentionand my eyes swivel to the window to check out the storm.
Fromthe scientific perspective, thunder is simply the sound caused by lightning.The sudden increase in temperature and pressure caused by lightning results ina rapid expansion of the air in the path of a lightning bolt. This in turncreates a sonic shock wave.
Thundercomes in a number of forms. Peels aresounds changing in pitch and volume. Rollsare varying mixtures of volume and pitch. Rumbles are less loud, lower in pitch and last for 30 seconds ormore. And finally, claps are loud,high pitched thunder lasting no more than two seconds.
Theseexplanations are all well and fine. But being the Metaphor Guy who always looksfor deeper meaning, it occurs to me that that particularly intense andpercussive clap of thunder could be interpreted as a sonic wake up call.
Wehave all slipped, or been pushed, into a bit of trance for the last sixteenmonths as a result of the pandemic lockdown and restrictions. We have beenbehind closed doors, masked and in many ways muzzled.
The new normal is the catchphrase for thenew world we find ourselves waking up to as some the changes we thought weretemporary are becoming permanent. Fair enough.
ButI like to think that that epic clap of thunder was a metaphorical slap in theface to tell us that we need to get back to embracing life and living with apurpose. We have been on an enforced pause for sixteen months. It is time tohit the play button again, emerge from our hibernation and grab life by thetail.
Thenew normal will only define us asmuch as we let it. We can and should choose to define life ourselves and bemaster of our own fate.
~ Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .
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