I Never Thought I'd Say This...

It is a gray, rainy day in NoVA, and I am happy to see it. Yes, yes, I know...I complained vehemently about being stuck in the Pacific NorthWet for 11 years with nasty gray rain. This time is very different. For the past two weeks, the Mid-Atlantic and other parts of the South and Mid-West have been trapped in the grips of deadly heat. We're not talking a little bit hot here; we're talking deadly heat that broke every record for days on end. We're talking about heat so powerful, it buckled pavement on many roads in the area. We're talking about heat so strong it caused an airplane to sink four inches into the tarmac at one of the local airports. We're talking about no rain for many parts of the country for quite some time. We're talking about the kind of heat that when you open your front door, it hits you like a blast furnace and sucks the air out of your lungs. 


People weren't enjoying the outdoors unless it was by a pool or fountain. You literally rushed from your house to your car then from car to store just so you didn't melt into a puddle on 130 degree pavement. Heat index values were well above 100 for several days and actual air temps were at or near 100 for days in a row. We kept all the shades drawn in our house and even put up blankets over the windows to keep out as much heat as possible. We lived in an air-conditioned cave for two weeks. Our tomato plants actually dropped underdeveloped fruit and quit producing blossoms. We watered every day, but the heat was just too oppressive. It burned up some of our flowers. Our gas grill showed a temp near 200 degrees even though it wasn't on! Yes, this was some nasty, hot, debilitating weather for sure.


Then something amazing happened. Thunderstorms came through with a cold front yesterday and the temperature went from 97 degrees to 78 degrees in the matter of an hour. Last night had a low temp of 70; the lowest in weeks. We got up this morning and we could open all the shades in the house. We no longer had to hide from the oppressive oven outside. And I've never been happier to see a gray, rainy day in a very long time. 


I'm sure the hot weather will return, but for now, I will enjoy the mid 80s. I'll also appreciate every drop of rain that falls.