Rain Reigns

As I stood in the shower on Friday night at my new gym, I could swear the water seemed strangely loud. Soon, I was dressed and heading out to start my weekend, pondering the cartoon I'd watched on one of the cardio machines, The Robonic Stooges. I didn't even know The Three Stooges had a cartoon let alone one in which they were part machine, with extendable limbs and their initials labeling each stooge's shirt. It came out in 1978 when I was 4, so if I did see it before I probably remembered it as a bad dream. At this point in my sad musings, I reached the exit and saw that it was pouring outside. I wondered about the convertible I had parked next to an hour prior, but alas it was gone by the time I ran to my car. Hopefully the owner left and put his top up before the flash storm began. I'd hate to think I missed a great reaction otherwise.

It's been a strange week, cooler than last week's heatwave with sudden storms in the evening. On Thursday, my friend's car window jammed on him and got stuck half open. At precisely 4:30 in the afternoon, the heavens opened just as they did Friday night. “You got to be kiddin' me!” he said, running from his office to tape some plastic to the window. Twenty minutes later the storm was over.

I'm sure there's some complex meteorological explanation for these weather patterns, something about hot fronts and cold fronts and humidity, but my expertise lies with other things, like snacks or pop culture. All I know is that we've had nice days and stormy nights, and the storms have been localized, intense, and brief. By the time we get the windows in the house closed, it's over. Indeed, not only was the rain stopping before I was too far from the gym, but I could see it all evaporating from the pavement.

Not long ago, the silence of the evening was broken by the crash of thunder, waking my cat from his slumber in a nearby pile of laundry. He jumped up in alarm, looked around, then with the next rumble outside looked up at me for consolation. I scratched his ears, he blinked and meowed, and curled up and went back to sleep. The lights on my modem are flashing like crazy right now, and I'm hoping my connection lasts long enough to post.

One of the fire department bands I play with implemented a new policy a few years ago after we all showed up for a parade that was rained out at the last minute. Many of the players were upset that the call wasn't made sooner, though it was out of the department's hands. Parade officials thought we'd get it in, but the storm only grew stronger. Now, if we're not notified and show up at a parade site, we still get full pay even if we don't play. If Saturday follows the pattern of the rest of this week, there's a good chance a storm will break just about the time we're set to start marching. I hope that's not the case; this will be the first gig with this band for the year, and parades are a lot easier than Italian feasts. We walk no more than two miles to a reviewing stand, play six or seven marches, and we're done. Sometimes that's a nice change from leading a statue around Brooklyn.

Ahhh!! Sorry, but that lightning was close! I'd better close the window and wrap this up. Nature, it would seem, trumps lengthy blogging.