Through the storm

A thunderstorm was blowing in as Julia and I left Nicky's house last night, so I got her in the car and hurried off to try to beat the rain. The drops started falling as we drove away on our 2-mile journey home and quickly turned to a downpour. With the wipers on full blast, and proceeding at a slow and steady pace, I wasn't too worried. Then we turned onto Sligo Creek Parkway and the wind had picked up dramatically. Pieces of debris began to fall from the trees onto the roof of the car. Now I really wanted to get home. Then a branch fell in front of us on the road, and we had to stop and drive around it. I decided a wooded parkway wasn't the best route to be taking, so we got off onto the residential streets and had to wind our way around back toward home. Traffic lights were out at every intersection and turning left across 3 lanes of traffic on Colesville Road was no picnic. We had to get back on the Parkway to make the last bit of the trip; the wind had died down, the road was littered with leaves and branches, and the creek threatened to spill its banks. Reaching our neighborhood at last, we found that two of the routes in were blocked by fallen tree limbs. We finally got to our house just as the rain stopped, only to discover that the power was out. We were without electricity for another 5 hours, but very glad to be home.

Julia, of course, seemed totally unfazed by the whole experience and, if anything, was enjoying the sight of trees waving in the wind.