As I sit at my desk forming an opinion for the day, I notice that for the first time in two days we are having sunshine. Not an unusual occurance you say? Well, my friend, you are right under the usual circumstances. But these are unusual times...
The past two days we have had rain! I don't mean a mere spakling, I mean gully washers! We have had more rain the past two days than we did in all of September through December. It rained so much, my pool was filled to the brim and I have to turn on the drain and partially empty it. Why? We are expecting more rain tomorrow. Another 5-6 inches! I am glad I don't live in Flaggstaff, where the residents are bracing for 4-6 FEET of snow! Did I suddenly get zapped back to Illinois?
Really, though, it is a refreshing change. Finally weather forecasters get to do something out here and the drains in the street get cleaned. The sound of rain on the roof is one that I had forgotten about. Thursday, I will sit out on my patio, watch it rain. Hey! It beats watching paint dry! If it comes down hard enough, I will go out front, open the garage door, and settle in for the boat races down the gutter.
When we get mega rain out here, people go crazy. Driving in the rain is something they never do, so getting places becomes an adventure. When the gutters are full and flowing, people actually get canoes and kayaks, and go down the curb line in them. (I wonder if there are blow up dolls that they can put out celebrating the rain, like they do on every other occasion?)
The only solace I take from this rain is that I live in a desert climate, and, hopefully, this will spur some growth of the wild flowers to pretty-up the desert floor. One thing is for certain, though, this morning the air over the downtown area will be clear and not brown or green.
Doughnut
PS..Watch for another exerpt of "Growing up Doughnut" on this website soon!
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Roll Over and Hit the Snooze
Baseball season is over for Cubs fans like myself. It really has been since the August slide, but I have hung in there with hope until they were mathematically eliminated. The Miracle Mets of 1969 came to mind, and so I thought there was some possibility. How wrong can one man be?
Good things are beginning to happen, though. This morning, around 4AM, I was awakened to a sound which I had not heard in quite some time….rain on the roof! We had a downpour which lasted for about two hours. That may not be news where you live, but here in the desert, we cherish that sound like no other. It is amazing what a little thing like rain can be taken for granted.
People out here go crazy when it rains. One would think that 30 inches of snow was about to fall. The TV stations go crazy with weather and traffic updates, there are live reports as if this phenomenon occurs once in a blue moon. And, it does.
The rain this morning was the first we have had in our part of the valley for over a month. Imagine that, 30 days without rain falling from the sky. (We get rain, and the Dakotas and parts of Wyoming get snow already.) Many people out here were running around like Chicken Little. My neighbor was out in it washing his car! Our street floods sometimes, so some kids were readying their rafts to go floating down the street BEFORE SCHOOL!
Arizona has what is named, “The Stupid Motorists Law.” No joke, that is the name of the law. It goes something like this: If you drive your car into an area that is marked, “Do no enter when flooded” and you get caught and the police and fire departments have to rescue you, then you pay the bill for those services work, AND you get a big fine.
Imagine, my friends back in the Midwest, if the stupid motorists law applied to you during a snow storm. It certainly would cut down on people needing to be pulled out of snowdrifts on the Interstate, wouldn’t it? You pay for the tow, and you get a fine for being out when you were told travel was hazardous. “Boss, sorry, I can’t come in today. The risk of being caught in the storm is too great.”
A little advice, if you please. When trying to decide what the weather is going to be like in the Midwest during the winter, watch the Southwest. Our rain patterns eventually cross over into Colorado, Northern Texas and Oklahoma, then make a beeline for the Midwest. Where we have rain, you will soon have snow once the temperatures drop. And, according to the Almanac, we are in for the wettest winter. I guess you can see what that means for you.
On those cold, snowy mornings, you can do what I did today; roll over and hit the snooze.
Doughnut
Good things are beginning to happen, though. This morning, around 4AM, I was awakened to a sound which I had not heard in quite some time….rain on the roof! We had a downpour which lasted for about two hours. That may not be news where you live, but here in the desert, we cherish that sound like no other. It is amazing what a little thing like rain can be taken for granted.
People out here go crazy when it rains. One would think that 30 inches of snow was about to fall. The TV stations go crazy with weather and traffic updates, there are live reports as if this phenomenon occurs once in a blue moon. And, it does.
The rain this morning was the first we have had in our part of the valley for over a month. Imagine that, 30 days without rain falling from the sky. (We get rain, and the Dakotas and parts of Wyoming get snow already.) Many people out here were running around like Chicken Little. My neighbor was out in it washing his car! Our street floods sometimes, so some kids were readying their rafts to go floating down the street BEFORE SCHOOL!
Arizona has what is named, “The Stupid Motorists Law.” No joke, that is the name of the law. It goes something like this: If you drive your car into an area that is marked, “Do no enter when flooded” and you get caught and the police and fire departments have to rescue you, then you pay the bill for those services work, AND you get a big fine.
Imagine, my friends back in the Midwest, if the stupid motorists law applied to you during a snow storm. It certainly would cut down on people needing to be pulled out of snowdrifts on the Interstate, wouldn’t it? You pay for the tow, and you get a fine for being out when you were told travel was hazardous. “Boss, sorry, I can’t come in today. The risk of being caught in the storm is too great.”
A little advice, if you please. When trying to decide what the weather is going to be like in the Midwest during the winter, watch the Southwest. Our rain patterns eventually cross over into Colorado, Northern Texas and Oklahoma, then make a beeline for the Midwest. Where we have rain, you will soon have snow once the temperatures drop. And, according to the Almanac, we are in for the wettest winter. I guess you can see what that means for you.
On those cold, snowy mornings, you can do what I did today; roll over and hit the snooze.
Doughnut
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