Lightning over the Brooklyn Bridge; credit: Rick Elkins/Flickr

We’ve had hazy, hot and humid weather in New York this week, punctuated by crazy-ass thunderstorms. Last night, the thunder and lightning startled Lola and she crawled into bed with us. More specifically, she chose to nestle into the small space between the edge of the bed and my face, which forced her to rest a lot of weight on my arms.

Like many dogs, Lola has storm phobia. Doctors don’t know what causes this reaction in dogs because any number of things — from the flashes of light, the booming sounds, the sudden drop in air pressure or the electrical charge of the air — can trigger it.

So, last night I woke up from a deep sleep thinking Lola wanted to spoon with me, not realizing another storm was going on. But as soon as she settled in, my arms started to go a little numb and I felt her paws pressing into me. It got uncomfortable real fast.

After shifting around, Lola jumped to my other side, to the center of the bed, and found a few inches of open space right on top of our pillows.