I know that many of you are probably sick of hearing about rain and how wonderful it is, but I am going to say it again. Rain is beautiful. After being in an area of the country that experienced a severe drought for a couple of years, rain takes on new meaning. When it comes, it is welcome. After the drought we had last year, the rain this year is welcome any time it falls. It has not gotten old yet. Today was no exception.
I was out and about this afternoon running some errands. I needed to:
- Go to Sam’s Club and pick up pictures that I had printed for Kyle for a couple of school projects that he needs to complete and turn in by Wednesday.
- Go to Walmart and return a cork board that I bought for Ben that was too small for what he wanted to use it for. I bought him a larger one. I just did not have the receipt with me when I went back to Walmart the last time. I found it today.
- Get whole milk, eggs, and pie crusts for Ben and Kyle so they can make quiches on Monday.
- Get a couple more cases of bottled water.
I left the house just after 1:00pm. When I pulled out of the garage, the skies were not dark. They were overcast, but not dark. There was a light sprinkling, but the ground was still partially dry.
This is what the skies looked like about 1:07pm:
This is about one mile from the house. You cannot even see the second line in this picture, visibility is so poor. This area has turned into a construction zone as they are widening the road on the other side of Highway 249 (which is usually fully visible at this point). Traffic at this point is not unexpected, but the rain added an interesting level to it. The road work is very much needed as traffic is heavy through the intersection all the time.
This is what the skies looked like about 1:09pm:
We are literally just crawling in traffic in the heavy rain. I at least made it through the first light. I had sat through the light for about 2 cycles already when I took the previous picture. The visibility dropped considerably. By the time I actually made it to the light, it was raining so hard visibility was almost nothing. I actually wanted to turn, which was fine as I was in the lane that would turn. However, I wanted to turn right shortly after turning.
I wanted to go to Kohl’s (I have some Kohl’s Cash to spend) and then run to that Walmart across the road from it. The rain was coming down so heavy at that point that I could not even see well enough to change lanes and get across the three lanes on the feeder to the parking lot I wanted to be in. I ended up having to get up on the highway. That was not entirely a bad thing as I would have to do that to get to Sam’s Club anyway. The problem was that the pictures would not be ready for almost 2 hours. At this point, I am not complaining as I am on the highway that normally flows at 75-80MPH and we are moving steadily at 40MPH. The traffic on the highway is not heavy, but moving slow as the fastest setting the windshield wipers is not enough to keep the windshield clear. There is just that much rain.
Now keep in mind that these are fairly normal pop-up afternoon thunderstorms in this area. When the air gets unstable and the rain just comes down. Heavy. With the remains of Hurricane Isaac pulling where ever they went, I am sure that is having some influence on the stability of our air. I will not complain. I like the rain. our grass was looking a little sad. It was a little dry and crispy again. All the watering is sometimes just not enough. It is just not the same as a good afternoon thunderstorm. The rainstorms also cleanse the air. For those of us with allergies, this is a welcome thing. For those of us allergic to mold we regret the celebration of rain after the fact but the regret does not last long because the temporary relief far out weighs the lasting effects of the mold that suddenly springs back up. Mold is there always anyway. Most importantly, however, for those of us here where it is hot in these hot months the temperatures drop. If we get enough rain it might drop enough to be comfortable. If we do not get much rain it will just make our world a steamy sauna, but if we get showers like we did today the impact is significant. Today our high temperature was about 91˚F. We cannot complain about that considering earlier in the week we were pushing 96˚F with heat indexes of 99-103˚F. Those temperatures are no fun no matter where you are.
Tonight, I am grateful for the rain. It might not have lasted long. It had mostly let up by the time I had made the 15-20 minute drive to the Walmart that was down by the Sam’s Club. My forced trip on the highway was not entirely wasted as there was an errand that I could complete simply by going the direction I needed to go for another one. The rain had stopped almost entirely by the time I had walked around Walmart for over an hour and returned to the car to make the drive back down the street to the Sam’s Club to get Kyle’s pictures. There was no rain for my return drive home. It might not have lasted long, but it was welcomed all the same. It was beautiful. It was refreshing. It was a sweet sight to see. I am grateful that it fell on us again this year because I remember the years past where it did not fall. I remember. I still look at the weather sometimes and see the predictions for rain and I am skeptical that we will get any all as often the weather shows the same trends that we have had the past couple of years. It is hard to get your hopes up only to have them crushed by those wet drops that never fall.
Thank you rain for falling on us again today. Please fall on us again soon. May you please bless others who need you…
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