I'm a chicken when it comes to storms.  A full blown, terrified, trying not to lose my senses kind of person.  I have been since I was born.  So many nights squished between my parents in their double bed waiting out the thunder and lightning.  This, did stop as I hit double digits.  Instead, I'd cower in my own bed and contemplate hiding under it.  With a weather radio, of course!

My family mocks me.  A lot.  If there is any hint of potential tornadic activity anywhere near me, the first thing I do is put on my tennies.  Why?  If I'm going to have to crawl out of the wreckage of my home, I don't want to be barefoot!  And, I'm usually barefoot in my home.  I grab a flashlight and the lone transistor radio I still have, after a battery check, and I'm ready to head to the basement if need be.  They just shake their heads and go with it.  They've not seen tornadoes first hand, nor have they had a funnel cloud dance over their home and yard, tearing up a tree and flipping over their beloved swingset from the Sears catalog.

As an (supposed) adult, I do try to find ways to come to grips with my insane fear of storms.  Not just for me, but also that I don't appear hysterically fearful and decidedly on the verge of death in front of my kids.  This Mom thing, it's tough.  I've taken to turning my camera to situations I can't control, when I can safely do so, that is, because I'm not chasing storms!  I may not be able to control what is going on around me with the weather, but I can control how I capture it.  I'm not a control freak, I swear!  But, for me, being able to capture the beauty in weather that makes me fearful gives me some ground.

DSC_4469 Captured with Nikon D810.  Nikkor 24-70mm, f/2.8 at 24mm.  ISO 200, f/16, 1/80s.  Edited in Adobe Photoshop with Totally Rad's RadLab and tricks of my own.

Backstory, storms were bearing down on the area of Wisconsin where we were calling home at the time.  We'd only been there two days and weren't terribly familiar with the area or the counties.  Warnings and such, of course, issued by counties and towns.  We had no cell signal.  So, it was batten down the hatches and pray a wee bit.  Make best guesses based on the tv maps!  We missed the 60+ mph winds and the massive hail and as a result, got to watch the storms roll in and then out over Lake Michigan.  Definitely a beautiful experience for us.