Storm on the horizon

I was reading a post by Songbird. She was talking about seeing a dog that reminded her of a dog who is no longer with her. A sentence she wrote caught my attention:

It's a sort of thundershine, the remembering of something lost, the recognition that some times and people and loves in our lives cannot come back yet have the power to appear as sharply as the little storm on the horizon, summoned by the senses.

That rang with reality for me. Haven't you had that happen? Haven't you been surprised by the memory of a time in your life, a project you had a part in, or even the spirit of a loved one? The thought come unprompted and as a surprise, and bloom in your mind at superspeed, bringing longing and grief?

I've never thought of it as thundershine, whatever that is, but the phrase, "a little storm on the horizon, summoned by the senses" makes sense. Summoned by the senses, or a memory, or an unrelated conversation.

Like a storm, the memory drifts away in time, and the remembrance of it is not as sharp once again.