a surprise storm

 They're so rare in the summer here, that I have to document it. I've been working in my research lab (windowless, and not-great ventilation, so it's kind of warm in there) and I keep my phone on me. I got the notification and decided to take a break - because, rain is so rare.

I didn't want to miss it. I don't know if you've read the Ray Bradbury story "All Summers in a Day" but this is like the reverse of it - be figuratively locked in a closet for the brief span when rain falls, and you may not see it again for a couple months. 

And yeah, one of the things I find depressing about the summer here is how unchanging it is: hot, bright, uncomfortable to be out in, no clouds, nothing interesting. 

So I stepped out on the patio. At first I thought I had missed it (seeing the condensation on the glass globes around the lights outside the building, but then it started up:

And then more:

It stopped pretty fast, though, and then the humidity skyrocketed (dewpoint of 78 F). At this point I was done with the first sample, I wanted to get a few things from Mart of Wal (I have discovered the little "My Mochi" ice creams - tiny scoops of different flavors of ice cream inside a mochi (rice paste) coating. They're good, and one of them (80-90 calories) is actually a satisfying amount of ice cream. The wal-mart here has them, they're the only place I've seen them. (I also wanted some "real" smoked salmon). 

So I got that. That helped me get in my 3500 steps for the day even though I was hurting when I got home. Ate, went back, did my second sample. 

Came home, showered, ate dinner. They announced a thunderstorm watch, which surprised me because they had said we wouldn't get any.

Called my mom on Facetime, partway through I heard the thunder. And then the power went out (And I don't have enough "bars" to support Facetime without wifi, so I had to call my mom back on the phone)

After signing off, I decided to take a look at the rain again, since we probably won't get any again for a while:

And (if I can get it to upload in the slightly changed interface here), I took a bit of video because I wanted to have a record of the thunder. (And surprise comment at the end, I wasn't expecting that)

I mean, I HOPE we do get more rain and/or changeable weather than we have had this week. But I don't expect it; it looks like it's just going to be a long, hot summer.