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Independence, MO —
There is a certain joy in sitting outdoors in the rain and staying dry.
Two weekends ago, we braced for a couple of days of heavy rain. It hadn’t rained for what seemed like months, so of course it was a Scout camping weekend.
It did rain. I sat under a tarp canopy and took it all in. The rain sounded and smelled great. It would seem as if it was really going to get going, and then stop. Overnight, finally, it came down pretty hard. Not enough to break a drought, but maybe a down payment on a down payment of what we need.
Last weekend, it was round 2. Recall that Tropical Storm Isaac killed several people as it rolled across Haiti, then became a hurricane and hit the Gulf Coast near enough to New Orleans to encourage a lot of hasty comparisons to Katrina. It did do a lot of damage and made a mess.
We got the good part – the life-giving rains that we desperately need. Maybe not on our terms or our ideal schedule – sorry, Santa-Cali-Gon Days, sorry football players – but badly needed nonetheless. It’s a funny world, and one that should give us pause. The storm that brings death to one part of the world and destruction and worry to another brings life to yet a third.
And on Saturday morning – safe, mostly dry and at least having the sense to not grumble about the rain we’ve been begging for – it was another Scout event. This time it was a fundraiser, running a parking lot for Santa-Cali-Gon traffic.
Had there been any.
I sent the 9 a.m. crew home and sat under a tarp canopy, listening to and watching the rain. The wind wouldn’t make up its mind and made it hard to stay entirely dry, but – what the heck – the next crew would be here at 1 and we’d surely be parking cars by 2.
It would seem as if it was really going to stop – at 11, again at noon – and then get going again. Harder. Finally, late in the afternoon, it gave up. The telling stat for me was from the Royals: Kauffman Stadium got 6.54 inches of rain in 29 hours.
I sent the 1 p.m. crew home early and waited for the group at 5. Yes, surely we would be parking cars.
I guess that’s the thing about rain after a long dry spell. Suddenly the world is new, and things – even delusional things – are possible. Cars will show up, and people will pay to park.
That never really got off the ground. We had exactly three paying customers (Sunday was much better). At 7, I called it a day. By then, I had a scratchy throat, as if I’d been out in the rain all day.
I didn’t mind a bit.
There is a certain joy in sitting outdoors in the rain and staying dry.
Two weekends ago, we braced for a couple of days of heavy rain. It hadn’t rained for what seemed like months, so of course it was a Scout camping weekend.
It did rain. I sat under a tarp canopy and took it all in. The rain sounded and smelled great. It would seem as if it was really going to get going, and then stop. Overnight, finally, it came down pretty hard. Not enough to break a drought, but maybe a down payment on a down payment of what we need.
Last weekend, it was round 2. Recall that Tropical Storm Isaac killed several people as it rolled across Haiti, then became a hurricane and hit the Gulf Coast near enough to New Orleans to encourage a lot of hasty comparisons to Katrina. It did do a lot of damage and made a mess.
We got the good part – the life-giving rains that we desperately need. Maybe not on our terms or our ideal schedule – sorry, Santa-Cali-Gon Days, sorry football players – but badly needed nonetheless. It’s a funny world, and one that should give us pause. The storm that brings death to one part of the world and destruction and worry to another brings life to yet a third.
And on Saturday morning – safe, mostly dry and at least having the sense to not grumble about the rain we’ve been begging for – it was another Scout event. This time it was a fundraiser, running a parking lot for Santa-Cali-Gon traffic.
Had there been any.
I sent the 9 a.m. crew home and sat under a tarp canopy, listening to and watching the rain. The wind wouldn’t make up its mind and made it hard to stay entirely dry, but – what the heck – the next crew would be here at 1 and we’d surely be parking cars by 2.
It would seem as if it was really going to stop – at 11, again at noon – and then get going again. Harder. Finally, late in the afternoon, it gave up. The telling stat for me was from the Royals: Kauffman Stadium got 6.54 inches of rain in 29 hours.
I sent the 1 p.m. crew home early and waited for the group at 5. Yes, surely we would be parking cars.
I guess that’s the thing about rain after a long dry spell. Suddenly the world is new, and things – even delusional things – are possible. Cars will show up, and people will pay to park.
That never really got off the ground. We had exactly three paying customers (Sunday was much better). At 7, I called it a day. By then, I had a scratchy throat, as if I’d been out in the rain all day.
I didn’t mind a bit.
