Raining, Pouring
The weather report yesterday was the sort of thing you'd see on an old Sesame Street episode: a sun in a sky with a few clouds, followed by a dark sky raining the wrath of God onto the land. It wasn't the sort of thing that I would tend to believe, not because I think meteorology is a conspiracy, but because I have grave doubts about the ability of meteorologists to predict while light comes up after green. So it is with some surprise that I watched as storm clouds gathered above the city with mayhem in mind this morning.
As the train pulled away from the station a huge sheet of water struck the windows and I knew it was "on". All the way down the peninsula I watched as the placid palms of northern California did their best imitations of Florida palm trees in hurricane gales. Strangely this made their fronds all point south towards my work, as if they were saying "Evacuation Route". Visibility on the way from the station to work was limited and everyone of course drove with the sort of exaggerated caution that aggravates me. By the time we arrived at work I was glad to be done with the whole thing, and spending the day insulated from the outside world. Ah the glow of fluorescent lights keeping me warm and safe.
Still the rain in the South Bay was less severe and the wind seemed to have died down, especially by the time I was ready to go home. I had a dinner scheduled with Dr Germ at her boss's house in Mill Valley, and so she picked me up at the train station. As we drove through the city I realized the severity of the storm. All over the place tree limbs had been ripped cleanly from the trees they had formerly been attached to. The results of the extensive flooding were evident all around as well. We drove across the Golden Gate bridge and into Marin which was quite dark. Driving up the hill to the boss's house it got darker and darker, and when we turned off the headlights we were plunged into complete darkness. If you hadn't guessed before the reason was that the power was out to the whole neighborhood. While that made for a charming candle-lit dinner it also made for a treacherous descent to the house from the street, and a similarly harrowing return trip.
I think the weather is set to continue like this for the next few days which is a little scary since it'll make the city insufferable.