It rained tonight. Really.
I haven't seen it rain here. Apparently there hasn't been so much as a drop from the sky since early spring, April or so. And it came from nowhere; today was oppressively hot and sunny, without many clouds in the sky or much in the way of a moderating breeze. It was just hot, and unpleasant, and that was all.
And then around 2145 or so, it started to rain.
I was in the library at the time, writing—having finished chapter 85 and started on chapter 86, which will be unpleasant to write—and some folks who were in the video room watching Star Wars came out and stepped outside. I heard them through my music say that it was raining.
I had to get up and see this. I stepped out to the door, and sure enough, there it was. This wasn't exactly a gullywasher, but neither was it some frail light mist. This was rain. I stood and watched it for a while, the packed up the computer and took a book next door to the coffee shop, which has tables set up outside on a covered deck. I sat there and read and listened to the rain, which is a wonderful sound I hadn't counted on hearing much of while I'm out here. There was lightning in the sky, too, though I didn't hear any thunder. Still, I enjoy a nice light show.
It was very hot and humid, as you'd expect, but I sat outside until the rain ended and it didn't look like it was going to come back. And to my surprise, after the rain, a cool breeze started up.
Now, whether this was actually a cool breeze, or just a dry breeze the same temperature as the ambient air, I don't know. But it felt like a cool breeze. In the desert. In July.
Rain is a fairly ordinary thing in Florida. Here in the desert, people came out of their libraries, out of the coffee shop, out of their tents, to watch water fall out of the sky, as if it was an event not to be missed, something that might not happen again for a long time, if ever. I'm sure it occasionally feels that way, especially if it's been dry here for a few months. How funny that something so ordinary to me can become so unique simply by picking up and moving to a different location.
I can't wait for the next storm.
2 comments:
You missed a wonderful light show here the other day. Glad you had one of your own to enjoy!
My mother recalls that it used to rain in GA almost every day throughout spring and early summer. For my whole life, seemingly, rain has been in short supply summer after summer. "We needed the rain" is the moderating statement made for all weather-spoiled, outdoor events. "Sure could use the rain," the hopeful accompaniment to those little green spots on Doppler. And all most of us are concerned about are the lakes, the tomatoes, and the lawn. I can't pretend to know what true drought is like for African countries.
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