Monday, March 21, 2011

Into Jaws Of The Beast

I was making my way west on I-64 this evening, after having supper at my mother's condo. I was about 20 miles into my trip with another 20 or so to go, when I saw the first lightning bolt streak across the western sky. It was dusk, and the bolt had a surreal orange hue. I had watched a weather report earlier in the day, and the meteorologist warned us to expect some thunderstorms in the evening hours. I didn't like what I saw. I had a bad feeling I would be in the thick of it, just as I was pulling off the Interstate at my exit. Since I had stopped at Krogers after leaving my mother's, I had groceries to unload, and I didn't want to do it in the rain.

The sky got progressively darker as I got closer to home, and a veritable light show ensued in the sky before me. Bolt, after bolt lit up the sky, no longer orange in color, but fluorescent white against the blackened night sky. My windshield began to show drops of rain just before I reached my exit, but not enough to turn on the wipers. I left the Interstate at my exit, and made a left turn for the one mile ride south to US Route 250, where I turned right for the two mile ride west through the hills to where I live, when all of a sudden, the heavens opened up, and the deluge began! With both headlights and fog lamps on, and windshield wipers slinging water at at full speed, it was everything I could do to see the road out in front of me. Fortunately I had two other cars in front of me, and their tail lights provided a beacon for me to follow, otherwise I would have had to pull off the road. The intensity of the cloudburst, was reminiscent of the downpours I experienced on a daily basis, during the Monsoon season in South East Asia over 40 years ago. The normal 55MPH ride down US 250 to my subdivision, was reduced to a 15-20MPH crawl. By the time I pulled into my driveway, the rain had slacked off considerably, but it was still coming down in sufficient quantities, that I would have been soaked to the bone, had I not remembered to take my umbrella, but how do you hold a large golf umbrella, while opening vehicle doors, retrieving and carrying bags of groceries up a flight of deck steps, and then have to negotiate a locked door as well? Needless to say, when it was all said and done, I was more than a little bit wet, but on a positive note, the Dakota got a good spring washing!

After nearly a month's absence caused by illness and other plans, my bro-in-law showed up at mom's tonight, so once again the conversation was dominated by him and his plans for the future. And speaking of his plans, they include a glorious (for us *wink*) 3 week trip down to southern Florida this week, with his new main squeeze, so the next three weeks at mom's should be all girl affairs!

Mom served up beef tips and mushrooms in gravy over egg noodles, with fresh steamed asparagus slathered in butter, and a tossed garden salad. Es schmeckte so gut! Since I live alone, meals at home are generally pretty basic affairs. A piece of baked chicken, or fish, some microwaved frozen veggies, and some sort of beans, or a baked tuber of some kind is the boring norm. It's good to go to mom's once a week for some variety, and of course, it's always a surprise what she is going to serve, since she doesn't send out menues in advance.

After a long cold winter, spring has finally arrived here in the Piedmont. I noticed as I was pulling out of my driveway this afternoon, that my Redbud was just beginning to bloom, and further on down the road, at the mini-storage facility, the Bradford Pears were in full splendor! 77°F/25°C was the high today!

I've been living out in the country for over 17 years now. It has it's rewards, but sometimes I get nostalgic for city life.



Melissa XX

13 comments:

Angel said...

Glad you made it home safely!

Caroline said...

I have never seen rain like on my summer in the States where we several times had no option but to pull over and wait. Breaking camp on Virginia beach, blue sky above, we had seconds to dive for cover as the clouds burst. Half of us in a half collapsed tent and the others managed to reach the car.Finally creeping out of our hiding place our whole lives were soaked and dirty but already the steam was rising and in less than half an hour the intense summer heat had everything bone dry if not clean. We headed into the Appalachians to escape the heat for a week.

I enjoy the novelty of the city life for a day or two and can see the attraction if you lived alone but I prefer my small village where I can get a bottle of milk and loaf of bread after a short walk.

Caroline xxx

Kay & Sarah said...

It does seem that we are seeing more strong showers these days that one must pull over and wait it out. It makes one stop and think about the affects of this global warming trend we are seeing.

I also remember the monsoon rains of Southeast Asia in the mid 60's. We could see the rains start over the mountains and rush towards us so consistently, set our watches with the rains. As we would stand under the edges of the tent to take quick showers and to wash our socks and things. Oh yes I remember heavy rains.

Elly said...

During our rainy season here in south Florida it rains heavily just about every day at 1500hrs and is dry by 1600. It's a scary experience to be driving on the interstate highway and have one's car start to hydroplane, it's almost like driving on 'black ice'. Glad you made it home safely Melissa.

Hugs, Elly

Amy K. said...

I'm glad you got home okay. We actually had some rain last night... yes, in Tucson, rain! I believe it was our first precipitation of any kind in nearly two months. It was that "supermoon," I tell ya. Wreaks havoc with everything. It sure was pretty to see though. :)

Amy K. said...

I meant the supermoon as being pretty to see. The rain was just water. It did smell good though. The rain always smells wonderful here.

Melissa said...

@ Caroline

Actually my old city neighborhood had small markets and restaurants/bars within a couple of blocks, so a bottle of milk, a loaf of bread, or a meal and a drink were no more than a few minutes away. That is really the thing I miss most about it. What I don't miss is living in flat, where your neighbors can here you think.

Melissa XX

Melissa said...

@ Angel

Thanks! It was touch and go, for the last two miles!

Melissa XX

Melissa said...

@ Sarah

Those Monsoon rains were one of the most memorable parts of a tour in Vietnam. Like you said, you always knew what time of day it was, when the downpour started. If you got caught out in one and your jungle fatigues got soaked, no worry! A half an hour later, they would be dry as a bone!

Melissa XX

Melissa said...

@ Elly

Summer rains in South Florida are just like the Monsoon rains in Southeast Asia. Every afternoon like clockwork, you get a good soaking, then an hour later the sun is shining and everything is dry! You have a rainy and dry season that coincides with Southeast Asia too.

My mom and dad used to live in Bradenton, just north of Sarasota. I loved i down there, but when dad died, mom sold the house and moved up here. sigh!

Melissa XX

Melissa said...

@ Amy

You're lucky that rain was all you got. Those super moons have been known to unleash werwolves!

Melissa XX

Melissa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Melissa said...

@ Caroline

I've camped several times at the KOA Camp Ground in Va. Beach, but my favorite beach camping was farther south in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, at either Rodanthe, or better still, on Ocracoke Island, on the south side of Ocracoke Inlet, where you could actually set up a tent just off the beach behind the dunes. I endured several tent destroying thunder storms there, until I got smart and ditched the normal cabin style tent, and bought a geodesic style that held up much better to strong winds.

An even better beach camping experience, was south of Sandbridge, Va., past the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It was totally wild beach camping among the dunes, but it required you to supply all of your needs, including all food and fresh water. There were no facilites of any kind, not even port-a-potties. The trouble was you had to actually drive south for many miles on the beach itself, starting at Sandbridge to get there. Unfortunately, by 1973 they closed the beach off to motorized vehicles at Sndbridge, so the only way to get back in there, was to backpack about 10-15 miles. That's when I started going down to Ocracoke.

Melissa XX