Driving in a Storm...

As I always say on a Sunday evening, I cannot believe the weekend is already winding down. It always goes by so very quickly.

This weekend started out very sticky and steamy. The humidity was sky high on Friday and you couldn't move without one of those nasty, horrid little mosquitoes zooming in on you and sucking your blood away. As a result, I am covered with horrible little bumps that won't stop itching.

Then the storms came. I was going to leave for my parents' house on Friday night but because I worked late and didn't have the heart to put the puppies back in the crate for the 2.5 hour drive, I decided to get up very early the next day and head out then. We did so, leaving at 5:30 a.m.

This is slightly insane, I know. Yet the truth is, the puppies have made me become a morning person. I won't say I'm happy and chipper first thing in the morning because I don't think that's in my genetic makeup. However, we tend to go to bed early and get up early. I like this because it's fun to be productive at 9 a.m. on a weekend and then come home and have the rest of the day to do what we like. I've discovered that the majority of people prefer to NOT be productive first thing in the morning and so grocery shopping, shopping in general and running other errands tends to take far less time than it would later in the day.

So, even though getting up at 5:00 a.m. is a bit difficult, even for me, once we were up, we were up and it was rather nice to hit the road and have it mostly to ourselves for the whole drive.

Although, I was amazed to see that, around 7 a.m., how many people are up, around and walking their dogs.

We did mostly well on our drive except for the huge storm we hit about 20 minutes away from my parents'. It was the type of storm you can see in the distance and you know there's no way to avoid. The sky ahead is almost black, the road is soaked with the rain that fell earlier because the storm is moving away from you but you're rapidly catching up. Then when you do catch up, you drive into an eerie place. It's so dark, automatically programmed headlights come on because they think it's night. The ground is wet but no rain is falling. Lightning dances up ahead, forking to the ground but so quick that you really only see it as it remains as an image on your retina for a few seconds.

The whole time, you know that you're going to hit a storm but you don't know when. Your body tenses and your hands clench the steering wheel and you wonder if you should stop.

But just as you think that, the storm shows itself. The rain pours down so heavily that the window wipers, at their fastest speed, still can't keep up. The noise of the rain is so loud, you can't hear the audiobook you're listening to. It bounces off the car, a vicious drum. The road is a mass of raindrops, puddles and running water and you debate whether you should pull over but then you realize you can't because you can't actually see the side of the road. You can, however, make out the white line in the middle of the road and as long as you stay on your side of that, you know you'll be fine.

It's scary, no matter how much you might love storms. The thunder crashes, competing with the rain's constant pounding. The lightning flickers and you wonder if it's likely your car will get hit as it suddenly seems close.

Then, just as you feel so tense, you don't think you can take it, you've driven through. The sky is suddenly a strange shade of grey-white, the dark of the storm behind you.

Yes, we hit one of those on the way to my parents'. It was scary and the puppies whined. I would have liked to have joined them but I had to focus on the road. We made it through.

Scary as it was, I'm always in awe of a good storm. It's amazing to watch and witness. It's terrifying but amazing.

The whole day was made up of storms yesterday, each one bringing a new wave of humidity so that by nightfall, it was hard to feel like you could breathe fully.

Finally, in the night, the wind crept up and a final storm came and with it, it brought relief. This morning, we got up and the wind was strong, the clouds fluffy. The ones overhead were white and fluffy but the edge of the storm still loomed in the distance, still grey. But it felt amazing. The sun shone down on the type of morning that only a good storm can bring. The grass seemed much greener, the water in my parents' ponds richer and everything just looked new.

I love days like this. They're beautiful and they almost make up for the humidity with their freshness and cleanness.

This evening, when I got home, we actually went outside and enjoyed the evening air for the first time in a while. There's no humidity. There are, naturally, still mosquitoes but I don't think they're likely to vanish. I get bitten here, I got bitten at my parents. I think it's the penalty for being outside in the garden. I'm tempted to get one of those fan thingies that have Off repellent built in but I'm not sure if they really work or they're a device designed to make you feel like a twit when caught in public, rather like a fanny pack.

Still, even with the mosquitoes, it's a beautiful evening. The puppies are outside, digging new holes in the garden. Monday morning doesn't seem so far away which is a shame but, for now, there's still a few hours left to enjoy the weekend and I intend to do so. I hope you all had good weekends.

Happy Monday!