I awoke to the sound of persistent thunder and steady rain. A beautiful and haunting sound. Unusual in its quantity, but not unfamiliar to my ears.

The lightning, however, was remarkable. It was strobe-like in its frequency. The sky ... repeatedly illuminated as though by special effect.

Memorably (perhaps unfortunately) my first, lucid, semi-conscious thought was, “I’ll watch it later.”

For a brief moment, my practiced response was to file it away as though it was a digital event — an on-demand resource that would be available to me in the future.

Of course, it was not.

As I awoke further, I was happy to chuckle at my sleepy error. Grateful, too, to have been reminded that some things — many things — can only be fully experienced in real-time, as they happen. No recordings. No replays.

Grand but fleeting moments that can only be lived as they unfold.

And just like that, as I finish typing these words … the storm and all its commotion — gone.