θεός φόβος

Translated literally this means fear of god, but more accurately we're talking about Divine Terror.

The onset of spring has brought on a fair number of lightning storms, and if there's anything in the world of 'natural shit that can kill you but probably won't' that freaks me out, it's lightning. This fear is perhaps unfounded--lightning strikes account for about 73 deaths every year, compared to the 400ish who are annually gunned down just for living in greater Philadelphia--but the fact is the people who do get struck by lightning are people just like me who spend their days walking along on high ridgelines carrying 2 big fat hiking poles (read: lightning rods) in their hands. I mean that's just tempting fate. Also, lightning's unpredictability definitely smacks of Olympian caprice, and if I'm going to fear any set of gods, it's going to be the ones who'll kill you because they want to steal your girlfriend or because the smoke from your cooking fire had an unpleasant aroma.

When storms roll in I'm pretty much inclined to sit in shelters and wait them out. I've got no problem getting rained on all day, but I'm not really into being burned into a smoldering wad of grizzle. Not cool Zeus.