Torrents

Soaked through. At the 4th floor it was gray but bright outside. Upon reaching 1st floor I heard an odd hollow thumping. The opened door revealed an awesome display of rain. Option: walk to car in rain, wait there for a break before walking to car (running versus walking would not have changed wetness outcome), or go back up to 4th floor and give up a bit on plan of leaving before commuter rush. I had places to be, like the grocery store for some school lunch snack items, so the decision was made--go for it.

The soaking through occurred almost instantly. The usual respite that comes with tree coverage had instead turned to collection raindrops. [What is the opposite in size of a droplet? Mere drops would not seem adequate for this rainfall.] Usually there are shallow, passable lanes through the sidewalks when it rains, but not today. Water came from all sides, as pools of it bounced up at me with every step. The warm water sloshing through my seen-better-days shoes reminded me of wading into tropical shores. I worried briefly about the books in my backpack until the droplets on my eyelashes made it difficult to see, thus distracting me. I smiled at fellow wet people, and none of them apepared any more concerned than I. I figured some drivers would take pity and allow easy crossing of the street. Maybe they too were blinded by the downpour, but either way they did not slow. By the time I made it to the parking lot I was hopping through puddles and reveling in my soakedness. A half mile down the road and all was dry--outside. Localized rainfall indeed.