Where thunder is thunder

When is thunder not thunder? the girls queried in puzzlement when, after hearing a rumble, I reminded myself that it would, of course, be thunder.

When it's a big truck rumbling over a bridge or roadway. When it's someone in the apartment upstairs moving furniture. When it's a radio blasting with thumping bass, or a movie soundtrack turned up high so the dialogue is audible. When it's a faraway train. When it's a plane overhead. When it's a loaded dolly rolling over a tiled floor. I'm sure you could add to my list.

None of these options really exist here. Unlike at home, where there are many candidates for noisemaking, here, if I hear a boom or distant rumble, odds are, it's thunder.

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