dark and stormy nights

The rainy season is over. 

Or, at least until yesterday, we thought it was. 

Yesterday there were big dark clouds gathering together ominously in the sky and although they looked like they were threatening us with rain, I thought that I would not see rain again until October or November, but last night it rained.  I thought it was a one time occurrence, except it rained again tonight.

I am from the Wet. . .um, rather West Coast of BC so rain is a part of life.  You might think I am crazy, but there is something about rain that I love.  Splashing through puddles makes me feel like a kid again, and there is something especially cozy about being snuggled up in bed listening to the rain pour outside.

But tonight I had to drive home in the dark and in the rain during a lightening storm.

Meh, you say, no big deal.

Actually, driving in the dark is a big deal here and add rain and lightening and it is not a very fun experience.

So I am going to try to paint a picture for you. . .
It gets dark here pretty early - usually around 6:00 pm.  And by dark, I mean really dark, like close your eyes in a dark room, dark.  There are no street lights, or many house lights to lighten the dark.  The dark makes the stars amazing though because there is no competition from anything man made - just nature in all her glory.

Driving at night sucks.  The roads are narrow, full of potholes, lacking centre lines and reflectors and for some reason the cars coming towards you insist on blinding you with their high beams.  Add rain and lightening and it makes for a bit of a tense drive.

Tonight as I was driving home it was pouring and my windshield wipers were on maximum creating lovely blurs of red and white streaks across the windshield.  For the most part the sky and everything else was black except for when the lightening bolts illuminated the world in a brilliant lilac hued moment (if I was not driving I would have enjoyed it much more).

 (Just so you can imagine the lilac hued sky and the silhouette
of a typical African tree illuminated by the lightening
- just picture it without the elephant.)

My hands tightly gripped the wheel as the rain poured down and the steam rose from the road.  Eyes peeled watching for nearly invisible pedestrians walking on the side of the road who often randomly dash in front of the car to cross the street, giant puddles that baptize your car and all of the others in your vicinity, and the right hand signal flashing so that the oncoming traffic knows where the side of your car is so they know to stay on their side of the road.

Yep, it is an adventure.