Today we take a bit of a break from my usual crafty nature for a tale of adventure and eventual defeat in my battle with an indecisive thunderstorm.
Wet weather has never really been a friend to me or my long, luxuriously thick hair that frizzes at the mere mention of rain. So when I checked for today's forecast before bed last night, I groaned when I saw pictures of little thundery rain clouds next to "WED" and "THU." I placed my stripey purple umbrella on the floor next to my book bag before hitting the hay, and then I remembered I had left my only pair of reasonably waterproof footwear at home. Sure, they're snow boots, but they're no rain boots either. Even so, they're better than my sneakers. Which I ended up wearing today.
Throughout the day, the rain seemed to come and go, sprinkle and subside. It wasn't that bad until just before my Spanish class let out and students in the next class were coming in literally dripping wet. I zipped up my jacket, pulled the hood over my head, and popped my umbrella open as soon as I was out the door. I had not taken a few steps when I saw what inspired me to take out my camera and document my trek:
This seems to be some sort of manhole cover thing. Whatever it is, it's filled to capacity with water.
The downpour continued, and I carried on, pinning my book bag and my purse to my sides with my elbows in an attempt to keep them under the protection of my little umbrella. I got a brief respite in the Center for the Arts, taking a seat in the hall outside the theatre, where I looked over the last few pages of the first chapter in my Spanish book, attempting to prepare myself for this Friday's test. I chatted with a few passers-by and nommed on a free soft pretzel I picked up at a table outside the dining hall. After realizing that the rain hadn't let up (and likely wouldn't in the near future), I decided to brave the elements and set a course for my dorm building over a block away. And with my hood up, umbrella in hand, and a few well-wishes from my friends, I was off.
After finding ways around and/or over the several curbside creeks that had formed in the streets I needed to cross on the block-and-a-half walk to my dorm, I thought I was in the clear. Then I remembered the worst was still before me. This raging river was AT LEAST 2 inches deep right next to the curb, and the flow was as wide as a car that was a few yards out of view of my camera.
Looking up and down the street, I saw no part of this awful torrent that could be crossed with a single super-human stride.
So I jumped in with both feet.
Looking at these pictures, I noticed something that didn't occur to me at the time I took them:
The white line on the left in this photo is the white line on the left in the photo from before I hopped the stream. The flow of water was strong enough to move this Pedestrian Crossing sign a few feet down the street without me noticing right away. See how it even turned a bit?
This makes me sad.
Two sections of the sidewalk outside my building have sunken into the ground a bit, forming a small pit where rainwater accumulates and usually narrows the flow of foot traffic to the one side. But here, I had the same problem as before. Fortunately, there was an area that wasn't covered in more than an inch of water: the curb.
This worn-out path is a small shortcut to the front of the building, saving people the trouble of continuing down the sidewalk and making a 90-degree turn to get to the front door. But today, even that was out of the question, leaving sneaker-clad students (such as myself) to deal with the previous sidewalk obstacle.
So after a cumulative 8-minute walk from Spanish class to my room, I got soaked up to the knee, an individual bag of green tea that was in my purse got soaked and stained my bed sheets, and I had to put my pants, jacket, and shirt in the dryer for an hour before I headed back out for dinner (by which time it had completely stopped raining). Like I said before, wet weather and I are not very good friends.
Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing about my seemingly mundane adventure on campus today. I also hope you all had a better day than I did.
--Join me next time as I share with you some tips and tricks I learned the hard way over my few years of crocheting, in hopes that you will no longer be confused while following patterns or disappointed with how a color join looks in your project.
Live long and prosper,
Kayla
