Are you afraid???

Tonight I was sitting at my computer dutifully catching up on my blog reading, when I heard a noise that I thought to be an airplane flying overhead. At first I didn't think anything of it, but then it kept going and going and going, with about 10 seconds in between each low rumble. It finally dawned on me that it was thunder! Yippee! I opened my blinds and sure enough, the sky was quite dark and the thunder was just a rollin'.

Just a few weeks ago I was talking to some friends of mine about thunder storms in the prairies and how they kick butt on thunder storms in BC. When I used to live in Manitoba, I remember going into our screened in porch with my Dad and watching the storms. The lightening and thunder were spectacular and I wasn't scared at all. My dog was another story. We couldn't find him for hours afterwards because he went and hid so far under the house or under a bed and did not want to come out. This summer I was at my sister's place in Alberta and I chased after a storm on the ATV ... ok, the storm was miles away, but I got some great pics of the lightening. It's fun to watch storms if you know you're in a safe place. I went and stood on my front porch tonight and took this picture, but I have to admit that when I could feel the thunder shaking me, it was a tad bit frightening.

Then came the rain ...

And then came the hail. This is what my back patio looked like afterwards.

And then about 15 minutes later it was all over.

So I ask you ... are you afraid of thunder storms??? I want to hear your stories.