Thunder and lightning, not actually very very frightening

Last night there was an amazing rainstorm. I was round at Susie's house, and about 9 o' clock the sky went a very strange dark pinkish grey colour, and the street lamps started to glow - about 90 minutes too early at this time of year for it to be really dark. Then it began to rain, and it was like someone turning on a tap with a hose and sprinkler thingy, above the roofs, whoosh - and after a few minutes it stopped, and then it started again harder and harder, and there were big flashes in the sky like a huge searchlight going on and off and then bangs and crumpling noises (which sound like someone has dropped a fridge down a lift shaft and then torn up some linoleum or crushed a huge pile of boxes (like in those old car chases). It was quite exciting. Not frightening at all.

I don't understand people who think it's scary. I mean, not when you're inside and wearing rubber soled shoes. I stood at the window and leaned out a bit and felt the rain, and got that lovely smell of wet garden and clean air. It's like having a wash, you do feel kind of better afterwards.

Susie said she'd been in a thunder/rainstorm a dozen times more scary in Zagreb earlier this year, when she and someone else were walking through the city and there was a lot of really strong wind as well as thunder and lightning, and they were in a park, and the trees were waving like mad and a branch just on her left cracked and fell to the ground and they started to run and run till they got to this underground shopping centre place, and it was filled with people all staring out like survivors of some weird sci-fi film at the deserted streets and water falling so hard it bounced off the pavements high up into the air and splashed like a giant fountain. She said they had to hide there for half an hour, so they ate some pizza and bought a wee folding umbrella, and dithered a bit, but finally made a run for it, to her hotel. She says in France, where she used to live for a while, there were lots of storms like that and it was amazing to watch them advancing across the valley, all jagged silver lines in dark blue skies, like a huge surround-sound experience in an IMAX cinema.

I like that neither of is silly about weather. (Except when it's just ordinary dull grey cold weather, and then we both get fed up.)