storm watch. 2010. day 2.

so today . . . it rained some more. really, really, really hard. and there was thunder and lightning too!

but it didn't start out that way. when i looked out the window this morning, it was mostly cloudy, but it was those smooth, high, white clouds with a tiny bit of blue peeking through. hmm. maybe that dumb jet stream had settled back into it's normal path and was sending the rain to washington or oregon where it belonged!

but just in case, a shoe decision had to be made. they were still predicting rain, which kind of affects footwear choices. i looked in my closet. bad news. my closet is filled with shoes--suede shoes, canvas shoes, open toe shoes, high heeled shoes--none of which were going to keep my feet toasty warm and dry. the best thing i could come up with were my black "ugg" boots. (notice the quotation marks--because real ugg boots are just slightly beyond my budget. but my boots are made from real suede, and i thought if cows can wear it in the rain . . . )

AND it was cold enough for the new sweater i got for christmas to finally see the light of day. it is big and soft and cozy, and i felt like i was wearing a snuggie all day--except i didn't trip over it!

when i got to school, i could see through my tiny little windows near the ceiling--yeah, my classroom is in a basement--that as the morning wore on, it was getting darker outside. and then, about noon, the rain began . . . gigantic drops were flung from the sky! the ground was soon flooded! the storm drains couldn't keep up! there was thunder. there was lightning. there was even a tornado warning!! i was thinking, where are we? kansas?!?!?!

since it is tuesday, rollie brought me lunch. he even braved the storm and went into an actual restaurant for food (well, panda express) instead of going through a drive-through. and then he parked in the closest parking space to the door of my school. he texted me, "wow. thunder. lightning. heavy rain. feels like oregon. be sure to wear something on your head when you come." thank goodness i had the sense to wear my big, puffy coat with the hood--even though (gasp!) it didn't match my outfit. i raced from the school to the car, which probably took all of 10 seconds, and i was drenched! we sat in the car munching our orange chicken and watching everyone else slosh through the flood to get to their cars. we listened to the rain pound the roof, and watched for lightning. and then, we noticed that we couldn't hear the rain on the roof anymore, even though it was still raining. and then it stopped.

the clouds dissipated, the puddles drained, and the sun fought to shine. all in the half hour i call my lunch time . . .

i walked back into the school without my coat, collected my students and finished out the afternoon.

at the end of my day, when i took my kids over to the other building for chinese and spanish classes, i saw joshua--remember? from last year? and he said to me, "i love the rain." so we talked about the rain for a few minutes. and then i said, "do you know who does not like the rain? milo!" and i told him the story about how yesterday i had to go out into the backyard with my umbrella and stand out there with milo until he would finally poop. and how milo didn't want to be out there in the rain, but i made him stay out there, because i knew he had to go to the bathroom.

joshua just looked at me for a minute. and then he said, "don't you have a toilet in your house?"

i guess he had forgotten that milo is a dog . . .