Adventures In Driving

It has been hot and steamy here lately ! The TV's 5day forecasts have been full of grey thunderclouds and lightning strikes...gloomy , hot and sticky...good for the water table , bad for one's mood !
Speaking of lightning , two weeks ago my friend and I were poised to take a department store run . A back road was selected to avoid traffic , but as we neared our turn , the glimpse ahead revealed a "lead-grey sky "...never a good thing . My friend , who watched those developments while I drove , noticed funny downward-pointing formations on the underside of the mass and ( recognizing them as precursers for tornadoes ), encouraged greater speed to take us out of the path . The turn duly taken , along with the advice , brought us to a deluge of major proportions ! Intrepid driver that I am , we had to pull over as I couldn't see the car in front of me !!! A ten minute wait allowed things to clear enough for us to reach our goal through flooding streets . Another five minutes in the parked car meant we weren't soaked in the mad dash into the store . When we came out later , the huge , pond-sized sump in front , normally dry and weedy , was full to overflowing !! The trip home was uneventful until we reached the traffic light in front of the local high school , which had been ripped from its lofty perch . Its job of safely guiding travelers was now manned by the police and many flares . What a day !