In the middle of the storm

Storms were lashing in Victoria last night. For the first time since I came to Melbourne, there was lightning and thunder. The rain here is normally light and falls gently like a sheen of silk to the ground, but it was considerably heavy last night.

I'm a person who likes the rain. I like watching the rain fall. I love thunderstorms, and watch the lightning streak across the dark skies, illuminating the storm clouds in its brief life. For a split second, that brilliant flash chases away the heavy blackness of the night. And then darkness reigns again. The rhythmic fall of the rain ceases not. The rumble of the thunder follows a few seconds later, and it is scary, yet magnificent at the same time. Does that make me a dark person deep down?

There's something strangely comforting, walking in the rain, feeling the drops hit the umbrella. I can hide from the world under my umbrella. We all put on masks.


My idea of retail therapy involves not clothes, but books and CDs. Walking into a bookstore, I slowly lose myself in the myriad of worlds, fantasies and adventures the books offer me, and for a moment, I can forget everything else around me.