Me and my monsoon

I parked my car at a friend's house today which was a 15-minute walk from Alewife (the subway station). When I got out of the station tonight it was raining. Not a problem. I like rain. I started walking and the rain got heavier and heavier. There was one person walking near me. A man with an umbrella. I don't like umbrellas and I never carry one. By the time I approached an overpass, about 4 minutes into my walk, I noticed 5-6 people standing under the overpass waiting for the rain to stop. I decided to keep walking because (a) I had dinner plans with a friend, (b) I needed to buy some tablecloths for the Pioneer Day pancake breakfast tomorrow morning, and (c) I wasn't sure how long the storm was going to last and didn't want to hang out under an overpass for an undetermined length of time. So I kept walking. Into a monsoon. In all my years (now I sound like a grandma) I have never been in a storm like that! It was way worse than just "severe thunderstorms". It was heavy rain, loud thunder, scary lightning, and crazy wind! Within seconds I looked like I had jumped into a swimming pool with my clothes on. Twenty times. I was totally drenched. The wind was whipping the trees and rain and I held my hand up on my forehead so I could see and keep the rain from hurting my eyes. I worried about a tree falling on me but I kept walking. The roads were flooded. I could barely see. It was loud. The wind was blowing so hard it nearly took my breath away. It was completely crazy. When I got to my car I tossed my soaked work bag onto the passenger seat and plopped down in the driver's seat, locked the door and caught my breath. I turned the windshield wipers on high but I couldn't see out the window. It was another ten minutes before things calmed down enough that I could drive.

An umbrella wouldn't have helped me one bit today.