Rainstorm @ MindSay

A rainstorm keeps threatening New York City, but it hasn't started yet.  There's a lot of thunder and lightning though, and my hubby and me hope it hits soon because the cold front is supposed to cool off the area.  I remember when my four siblings and I were little and we heard thunder, Mom would tell us that the Angels in heaven were bowling.  That thought is nostalgic and endearing to me now.  Children seem to know so much more now than when we were little. 

 

Tim and I took our walk early in Prospect Park this morning hoping to get home before the coming rain, but it is only starting to rain now.  My husband just looked out the window and checked. 

 

I posted a favorite picture of a beach because I love the rain and the ocean.  The rain replenishes our water supply, the ocean, and keeps plants and flowers growing.  Speaking of which, we're planning to go to the beach again soon.  The level of water in the lake across the street will go up too which is good for the fishermen and the birds. 

 

We just ate our dinner of spaghetti, sausage and meatballs with salad.  We're feeling content to be at home for the night with the storm outside.  Have a blessed evening. 

That is what I think the China Daily headline should read for today, because, yes, I nearly drowned yesterday, standing up, walking on the streets of Shijiazhuang.

My first mistake was wearing my adorable and comfortable Spanish Espadrille sandals to the city. Basically, they are made of hemp and rope and they are now swollen and bloated with all the water they ingested. My second mistake was leaving my umbrella at home. (Not that it would have helped much.)

So what happened? I went to the city, under threatening, overcast skies, to entertain the most basic of womanly needs - shoe shopping - sales shoe shopping. Half-way to my destination, it began to rain. Not too hard, not too bad, nothing to be overly concerned about. I arrived at the department store and began my purchasing. Satisfied with two new pairs, (Well, I could have bought ten, but I didn't want to be excessive.) I decided to head back down the main road towards a popular mall where I could buy some Western groceries. That was my third mistake. I should have just stayed put.

I bought an umbrella before leaving and made my way down the road. It seemed to be going okay when suddenly, the sky opened up and hellfire and brimstone seemed to be raining down. Or it could have been cats and dogs. All I knew is that I was having problems staying upright because of the wind. Lessser sized Chinese girls were being carried away all around me. Thank god for my hips!! I jumped between two columns in the front of a shop and tried to compose myself. I was standing in front of a tea shop and it wasn't long before the girls working inside convinced me to come in and sit down. They plied me with hot green tea for 30 minutes before the apparent typhoon passed. I ended up buying some kind of green tea oatmeal in appreciation.

Fortunately, one pair of shoes that I had just bought were a plastic/leather combo that would hold up well to all the water, so I switched out my ailing espadrilles and headed to the streets, which had become more like mini-rivers. If you have ever spent any amount of time in China, you'll understand how disgusting these rivers were. (In Shijiazhuang, the sidewalks are covered in human spit and who knows else what kind of funk.) I really had no choice but to just wade through, because every taxi was taken and all the buses were crammed full of people. (With that kind of humidity and heat, the last place I wanted to be was on a crowded bus.) By the time I arrived at my destination, my toes were pruney!!

I survived, but looks like the espadrilles are going to need a lot of TLC and the new umbrella is already a twisted piece of metal and fabric.

Actually, it turned out quite nice, because when the sun went down, the air turned cooler, bringing tons of people out to walk on the sidewalks. I always feel the most camaraderie with Chinese people in the evening when they come out to walk, dance, sing and do Tai Chi in the streets. I suppose it is because  everyone is more relaxed in the cool air and away from the stress of the day. People are more free with their smiles. Walking along with a group of Chinese grannies, I felt content with the companionship, even if we were dodging lakes of water and they were all probably chatting away about me in Chinese.

Looks like we are definately in the midst of the rainy season. We can expect similar downpours for the next two months.

Can't think of a darn thing I want to write about today.

It's been a strange day thus far. Work bright and early this morning. Came home and headed over to the annual swamp meet that my mom's senior group has every year on labor day weekend. Nothing exciting there. Headed to grocery store where I got the makings for lasagna for dinner. Ran into my old boss from the wireless company. First time I have seen her since I left. She looked at me, I looked at her, she said hello to Dave, Dave said hello to her and off we went in out separate directions. Dave says was that ??? and I said Yes.....and he said shit...thought it was her sister (who is a very nice person).  She is still ugly. Sorry....won't start that rant again. Promise.

We have an anniversary coming up soon. Usually we take off to the coast but this year we won't be able to for a couple different reasons. My diabetic cat & lack of money. Sucks. So I am no trying to think of something special we can do close to home. That will be a tough one.

Question: Can you get in trouble for lying to a process server? Don't really think so but if you can guess I've set myself up. Some folks are trying to supoena the husband for an trial coming up in the next couple weeks down where we moved from. The opposing attorney is after Dave to testify and the attorney for our side does not want him there. So we have been hiding Dave. I finally told the process server yesterday that we had split up and I had no clue where Dave had gone. After playing stupid for a few minutes the guy left. But am sure he will be back. Just hope this doesn't come back and bite me in the ass.

Helicoptoers seem to be the norm any more. Their flight path is right over our house. Till the fires are put out (which they won't be) I guess we will be listening to them overhead. Smoke has not been too bad the last few days. That is a good thing.

Well since I'm reaching for things to write about gonna sign off. Including a few pictures of last year's anniversary visit to the coast and our kitty Chevy. She is the newest member to the ranch.