Rain - better known as "Wet #2" (see past posts)

As per weather forecasts, we have rain. It was a beautifully clear and sunny day yesterday. Nary a wisp of a cloud in sight. The birds were singing and carrying on. People played tennis (me). Riding bikes was a good idea (Becky). Well you get the picture.

But last night after we went to bed the rain started. It continues to rain. We are told it will rain all day today. It will rain really really hard tonight. It will rain on Friday and probably Saturday too.

The average rainfall for a year in Phoenix is 7" or so. Last year we only had three point something inches of rain for the whole year. This storm promises to bring about 4 inches to the area. That will be amazing! And do I believe it? Yes, I do. The weatherman gets it right this time.

I have made a few observations:

1. We are desert people and aren't used to rain. Most of us love it. We like to sit out on our porches and watch the storms. But this house doesn't lend itself to "porch sitting storm watching". I guess I could sit on the back porch but then I could only see the wall. I like to see the street, cars happening by, the rain drops falling through the light of street lamps, water flowing in the gutters, etc. I am missing my front porch viewing.

2. Most people don't own umbrellas in Phoenix. It doesn't rain often enough. We just don't usually need them. Having one today might be nice. Those of us who do own umbrellas (I own 2 or 3) don't like using them. We don't like toting them around. After you use the umbrella to keep you dry on your walk from the car, what do you do with it then? You shake it off (getting yourself wet), try to fold it up (getting yourself wet), and carry it around (getting yourself wet). So what's the use. Maybe some umbrella aficionado can help me with the intricacies of umbrella usage.

3. When it rains we don't like getting our feet wet. I don't know if people from wetter areas have waterproof shoes or if they just get used to having wet feet. But everyone here does the same tippy toe shuffle/jump/hop to get over, around, or through standing puddles of water. I walked through a parking lot and across campus to get to my exercise class and I found myself leaping, stutter stepping, giant stepping, and well, tippy toe shuffling all the way to aerobics. I saw a campus security person doing the same thing and had to laugh out loud. It was funny. The water was like 6 inches deep he wasn't keeping his feet dry at all. But he went through the motions anyway. I guess he might have kept his ankles dry. But heck that isn't too hard.

4. We usually find out when it rains that our windshield wipers are useless. They bake all summer and get hard and cracked. Then when we really need them, once a year, they fail us. I happen to be lucky. The truck windshield wipers worked like a charm for me today.

Those are all my thought on Rain - better known as "Wet #2" (see post from January 20th)