I’m writing this Friday night while we get another taste of Hurricane Debby. That or this is her and everything else throughout the week was her entourage. The rain did somewhat stop the heatwave, but it’s still muggy and gross. I might be annoyed because of two incidents with one being scary and the other being sigh-inducing. Guess the second is comical as long as you’re not me.
On Tuesday, we got a massive downpour and the timing couldn’t be worse. I was the end of day bus matron, so I couldn’t get home before it hit. Thankfully, most of our kids got home before it got really bad, but it hit hard when I was dropped off at my car. Decided it was smarter to go to my son’s camp and wait for pick up time instead of going home and then driving back into the storm. I was closer after all. Saw the parkways were a mess, so I had to take side streets. Made sure to avoid the ones that I knew were bad, but I didn’t realize the far end of one was in terrible shape. With no way to turn around, I had to drive through a severely flooded road with a really slow person in front of me. The guy kept hitting his breaks as if he was going to park and go fishing, which freaked me out. We finally got out and I prayed my car could keep going, which it did. Thankfully, the rain stopped when it was time to get my son, but it started up again soon after we got home.
Oh yeah, we went to the mall for Pokemon Go and dinner on Tuesday. Heard an announcement 15 minutes in that things were closing up for the weather. It wasn’t storming, but we saw it on the horizon while we drove home. Had to stop at Wendy’s for dinner and discovered that EVERYONE was ordering Doordash. Took us 30 minutes to get our order when we were in person and it was pouring by the time we got out. They screwed up my order too. It seems even you choose the two junior hamburgers at Wendy’s they still make cheeseburgers. I salvaged one, but the other had the works and looked so bad that I lost my appetite.
Anyway, the second (now third) incident was at our trip to the Queens Zoo. The weather report said light rain, but we had no rain when we arrived. Now, this zoo is a circle with the entrance/exit at one end and the restrooms/outdoor eating area on the other. We reached the eating area and some kids ordered food. The light rain started, but quickly became harder rain. Most of our kids had ponchos and the tables had umbrellas, but it still was messy. Did our best before it was time to call it quits and head for the exit, which meant hurrying through the rest of the zoo. Let’s just say there was a little bit of miscommunication among our ranks and I ended up alone at the wrong of the zoo from everyone else. So, everyone got to rest on the bus while I trudged my way back there. I will say that it’s better for a teacher to be missing than a student, so I’ll take that as a win.
A picture and video from the trip though:
First time I ever saw the Mountain Lion right there
Nothing else to really rave about. My son had a bunch of appointments, which made Pokemon Go and typing in edits difficult. I still got some of both done, so this weekend could see me finish Darwin & the Avenging Elf. I’m still going to wait until I get back from Oswego before I tackle Darwin & the Demon Game. Means I have less to carry and I really should do some notebook work. Need to figure out what to do about food on that trip too. Mostly, I wonder if I should buy a little from the grocery store up there or bring everything from home. Curious to see what kinds of seltzer they have, but I should get a container of rocket apples for a healthy treat. Lunch and dinner will probably be fast food since I don’t want to spend tons of money.
Speaking of the trip, I’m still kind of nervous. Thought it was only about the long drive there and back, but there’s something else. Can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it’s because I’m going to the place I went to college and have so many memories. There’s still a barrage of nostalgia, which triggers both creativity and makes me wonder about decisions made during that time. Some great and terrible events happened up there, so memories bubble up to the surface. Could be that two days doesn’t feel like enough as well as going up alone instead of sharing the experience with someone. Being that I met my ex-wife there and the previous 2 returns were with my son, this would be the first time I’ve gone up to Oswego alone since I started my second semester in January of 1999. We’ll see how the whole thing goes, but I’m definitely fixated a bit.
This coming week is the last one for summer school and camp. That means, I’m going to be busy until the weekend, but I’m going to squeeze in whatever edits remain. Can’t think of anything too strenuous this week. It’s the one after where I have my son and there are 4 appointments that it’ll be crazy. Trying to squeeze in fun stuff when there are so many other things going on is tough, but I think I carved out two day trips for us. Not going to share those publicly until they’re locked in. Let’s get to the goals:
- Finish summer school.
- Cook penne with vodka sauce tomorrow night.
- Catch Shadow Lugia in Pokemon Go.
- Finish the hand edits of Darwin & the Avenging Elf. Probably should be higher on the list.
- Continue working on Bard-dur Lego set to relax.
- Tinker with ‘Phi Beta Files’. I’m at another naming stage, so I get weird looks when I pull out the baby name book. Need a new one of those though.
- Sleep more because I’m tired.
Legends of Windemere 
We got the storm before it got to you – stalled over us for a couple of days with tons of rain. You might have done better with those burgers if you HAD used Uber!
Relax, and have a pickle (what my Mom used to say!)
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Uber wouldn’t come to the school. We had no choice.
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Well, drat!
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We could have used the rain but the hurricane season is still young. There is another forming which looks like it will be heading up the East Coast as well. Wishing you a peaceful week.
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Really hope that storm stays far away from me.
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Yes. You’ve had enough.
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Sorry to hear about the hurricane hitting where you live and everything getting screwed up. I hope things are calmer now.
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The sad thing is that it wasn’t even a hurricane by the time it got here. It was just a bad storm, which the area doesn’t seem to handle well. Not sure why, but the drainage system in some areas are horrific. Not like rain is a foreign entity up here.
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That makes sense since the hurricane state hit parts of the South hard before being “downgraded” to a storm once it got to the East Coast. It still doesn’t make it convenient by any means, obviously. That must be rough with the drainage system not holding up well or being poorly engineered.
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I’ve felt for a while that this area isn’t suited for the newer weather patterns that show up. The houses seem to retain heat, but now we have really hot summers. Power companies leap at that chance to increase rates since it’s either the A.C. or die.
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That certainly doesn’t help. Shame on the power companies for exploiting everyone in your area.
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Just realized I misspoke. It’s only one power company. So they have a monopoly.
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Oof! That makes it even worse if it’s just one company.
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I would take any rain you could send us. Things are smoky and nasty here.
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Please take the next storm. I’m done with it.
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Gosh! The weather in the USA seems all over the place. From other US folks I hear from, they are having variations on rain, tornados, drought, you name it.
Yet those who have the most influence do nothing!
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To be fair, the USA is huge. You can the drought in one area and constant rain in another. They’d be miles upon miles apart. For us in the northeast, it isn’t unheard of to get storms from the south. They tend to be weak, but there are times they’re strong due to being on the coast. Doesn’t happen a lot, so our infrastructure isn’t built for it. My area is set up more to handle bad winters than bad summers since those are more common.
A lot of places do have ways to handle their local disasters. Just not much you can do with some and the increase in heat is making things like drought worse. At this point, there’s no switch that can flipped to reverse course quickly. So, not really sure who can do anything.
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We’re having a poor summer here in the UK. It’s generally been cool, with the odd few days of heat, then it reverts to cool again.
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We had a heatwave with temps in the 90’s and getting just over 100 from time to time. The storms kind of helped with that, but it’s still really muggy and gross out there.
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It sounds like a read adventure in the storm! Memories to store away for next time you write a scene with bad weather.
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Funny thing is that it doesn’t even crack my top 10 of bad storm experiences.
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The rain and storm must have been worse than awful. I hope you go on your trip, as all your memories may just swirl around otherwise. It will be different, but I bet it will be good. I have one more week at our summer program, too. Where has the time gone?
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Wish I knew where the time went. Feels like I’ve barely had breathing time all year. Even the breaks are clogged with appointments, events, and general chaos. That’s why I’ll be happy to get 2 days of nothing aside from walks, writing, and seeing old friends.
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I know exactly how you feel. I’m glad you’re getting this time away.
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