In this age in which we live in, more and more formerly pleasurable items are dishearteningly tainted with politics and forced divisiveness. Everywhere the question echoes: Which side are you on? Ambivalence is mistaken for apathy; certitude is mandated and chiseled into the fabric of our identity, opinion forms the sandy foundation for our belief system.

A good midwestern thunderstorm, however, takes no sides. Nature cares not for the cheap dogmas and trivialities of man. She is above partisanship; the prejudices and bigotry of humans matter little to the raw ferociousness of the natural world.

Nature simply is. She is wild and unhinged and uncontrollable. Mother Gaia moves across the face of our land as she wills and in her own time. That she concedes us to live in her world is a charity she is capable of rescinding at any time.

Perhaps Nature is the last institution worthy of absolute respect.