It's Raining, It's Pouring . . . Is this ever going to stop?

We live in a desert. We normally only get about six inches of annual rain fall, so about 330 days of the year we can count on sunshine, and we can have outdoor parties in January. So we were pretty excited to hear a rain storm was coming. We haven't seen rain in several months and even the cacti were looking thirsty.

It started as just a few drops on the sidewalks.


And built until we had a drizzle off the rain gutter.

Then we had a down pour.

Soon the once dry ground couldn't hold any more moisture and little rivers started to form.

The wash in front of our house, where a month ago we built a bonfire, was running water for the first time in five years.

And our driveway flooded.


Streets turned to rivers and parks turned to ponds.

Several kids stayed home from school due to the rain. I heard one boy rolled his car when he hydroplaned, lost control and hit a curb, (we don't really know how to drive in bad weather here) and I just got a call from a seminary student telling me he won't be in class tomorrow because their roads are all flooded.

In spite of it all, I loved today. I was mostly home, reading a book, baking whole wheat rolls and making chipotle chicken and corn chowder. All warm comfort food.

But now it is dark outside. The wind is picking up and the rain is pelting my windows. I am ready for it to stop.

Or someone may need to send an ark.