How the coolness of satellite radio enriched my life on a rainy day

Yesterday's late lunch took an unexpected turn, and along with giving me a rock-solid excuse for hanging around in my car listening to music, it was also the perfect demonstration of why XM satellite radio's massive variety is so cool.

I'd headed to a nearby grocery store to pick up some lunch, but on the way back to work, I saw a thick, dark storm-front unfolding in the sky. Between the amazing display of jagged lightning, the powerful winds, and the torrential rain, it definitely wasn't safe to drive. And I really like thunderstorms, anyway - I'd happily sit outside in the pouring rain, if not for my mother's nagging voice in the back of my head saying something about not having the sense God gave a turnip. So I parked in a vacant area of the shopping center's parking lot and just watched.

Now, if all I'd had to listen to at the time were the CDs I had in the car or a few local radio stations, nothing would've come close to providing an acceptable soundtrack. But this is where XM's wide variety of options made things even better. I'd been listening to X Country (pronounced "Cross Country"), XM's alt-country station. But those twangy tunes about love, life, and discovery weren't going to cut it. I considered switching to Sonic Theater, another favorite of mine, but an audio book would just be distracting. I started scanning my channel presets by artist and found something called, enticingly, "Gojira." I selected the channel and found myself assaulted by the thrashing of industrial speed metal. Channel 42: Liquid Metal. Perfect! The unbridled energy of Gojira and the bands that followed were an ideal match for the storm.

So for the next twenty minutes, I ate my lunch and watched as the storm rained down furiously, lightning arced across the sky, and the small sapling trees in the parking lot were bent almost 90-degrees by the wind. After a particularly loud crack of thunder, I saw the stores in the shopping center snap into darkness as the electricity went out.

And I was in heaven.

Most of the time, my satellite radio just provides entertainment, but yesterday, it provided enrichment to an already exciting experience. And there's good news ahead - today's forecast is calling for thunderstorms.