Tree Hugger

Lightning:  /ˈlʌɪtnɪŋ/

noun

The occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically also thunder.

Anticipation, flash-bang, flash-bang, flash-bang. I think the English language makes this natural occurrence sound so desirable. Say it out loud; you agree? It just rolls off your tongue so smoothly.

In Shona we call it Mheni. This rougher pronunciation kind of captures the word more accurately. Personally, I am scared of it. I've heard so many horror stories about how it has killed people, and with the darkening fear I have of death, when it starts, I crawl into a little hole of "safety", sincerely hoping that it does not decide to strike my little body off to death.

"Do you think that the trees get scared or excited when there's lightning?"

Majority of the people who do not have a weird obsession with lightning instinctively flinch at the sight of lightning and the sound of thunder. The older black generation go as far as covering all the mirrors in the house, switching off the main power and authoritatively ordering everyone to quietly sit in a dark room under those thick blankets that could bury you into an endless sleep.

That's human nature, we are scared.

But what about the trees?

What happens to their green hearts when the first shimmer of lightning strikes?

A couple of days it was about to rain and I was forced to stare at the lightning by someone who is quite obsessed with it. I asked him: "Do you think that the trees get scared or excited when there's lightning?"

Personally I believe that they anticipate the coming of lightning in excitement. It's a forecast of the rain that is filled with growth that is about to come and fill them with moisture from root to apex of leaf. It's a sign of growth that is to come, to find relief from prolonged dry seasons and a chance to replenish the beautiful pigment that once existed in their leaves.

So whilst we are crawling into our holes terrified of the flashing lights in the sky, the trees are proudly puffing their chests up towards the sky, hoping to be quenched by abundant rainfall.