Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Skies Stormed...

...away today, torrents of rain coming down as I have not seen in at least a week. It's not unusual to have summer storms in this neck of outermetrsloburbia but it is a bit bit much seeing them this bad twice within a week. It just rained almost as bad as today this past Wednesday. Today, despite the weather, or oblivious to the pending high chance of downpours, I took a drive to a not all that local reptile speciality pet shop today and got stuck in the middle of one heck of a thunder storm, in fact several of them. The roads were flooding and people were driving slow (for a change) except of course for a few idiots in their SUVs who probably believed were invincible in a 4W drive. I guess they just don't realize that an SUV can have trouble breaking in the rain just like any other vehicle. Then there was the Latin Somebody Or Other MC group riding their bikes in the rain. That was just a sight to see, but at least they pulled over under an overpass when it got really bad. Oh well, enough on other people in the rain, back to my mission.

The trusty Corolla handled nimbly despite the rain, and I arrived at the pet shop in one piece. I got just a bit damp running from the car to the door, just a bit though because thankfully the rain had let up just before I arrived there. While there I made a quick purchase of a thousand 1/4" crickets. It was well worth the drive if only because they are so deliciously good when baked into a freshly homemade pie crust. (Of course that's not what I do with em, after all the baby bearded dragons need to eat.) Then I headed to a local pet shop and picked up some other things for my other critters and headed home. While getting out of and into my car there, I had to virtually wade through a puddle that actually came up over the tops of my feet. I got pretty soggy from the ankles down, but somehow the rest of me stayed pretty dry - I guess because I had a small umbrella in the back seat. I forgot about it at the first shop (did not really need it there as there was a short break between downpour), but remembered it at the second one where it was indeed needed as the rain was coming down hard again. It did its job well for such a tiny umbrella as it is. Funny how I did not see one other person with an umbrella as they either ran through the parking lot toward a store or toward their cars all the while getting absolutely soaked. What is it with people? For me, I can say: What a trip. As it turned out, with those storm cells raging on and off, a trip that usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour took me about 1 3/4 hours, but I survived.

Of course, once I got home, the fact that is was wet outside did not phase my wife one bit with regard to her wanting me to BBQ. Truly, she would have given me a break and she would have cooked the chicken and steak in the oven if I had wanted her to, but I decided what the heck I was wet already, and we were both looking forward to some hunks of charred meat. So I took the matches from her (the electric starter on the grill must have been wet because it was not starting anything), and I also grabbed grabbed a bier, then I fired up the grill. I stayed pretty dry by standing in the garage a few feet from the grill as the food cooked, and I just came out to check on it and turn it as need be. I have to admit it was darned good, probably better than any cricket pie would ever taste; and I did not get all that wet since the rains had let up pretty much by then. As for the crickets, the baby bearded dragons sure made those crickets look tasty as they gobbled em down (no not all of em at one feeding, they will last about a week or two). For some reason, unfathomable to me, they seemingly did not care one little bit that the crickets were and kicking as opposed to barbecued or baked into a pie crust. Nope they did not seem to mind at all.

All the best,
Glenn B

No comments: