rain

When I woke up yesterday, I could see that it had rained during the night. It was so nice and humid and smelled so good! I was so excited to have some rain. The last time it rained here was probably the end of August. What people call the monsoon season is a thunderstorm or two during the day, so it wasn't even what I would consider a 'good' rain.
So, I'm driving down to Tempe yesterday, to meet a friend at a huge art fair. It's cloudy and the forecast says rain, but we figure a little storm here and there for a few minutes, no big deal. It rained ALL day!! It cracked me up to have it raining all day in the desert. I didn't think that happened around here. The one weekend people would rather have it sunny, and there are not one, but TWO whole days of rain. It started out just a slow and steady rain. The kind you know will hang around all day in Chicago. By the afternoon, the constant gentle rain was interspersed with heavy downpours, so by the end of the day, we were soaked to the bone, and getting a little chilled. The temp was in the sixties, but when you're wet, that's kinda cold!
Driving home in the dark and the rain through the mountains was not a fun experience( not to mention rush hour traffic through Phoenix)
I really feel bad for all the artists(over 400). I know what it's like to get rained out at a show, and it is NO fun! Tomorrow the sun is supposed to return, so hopefully it will turn out ok for everyone. We had fun anyway. I can't remember the last time I walked around in the rain all day :)

The umbrellas were pretty much for show by that point. Mary's HUGE beach umbrella got a lot of comments :)

Last night the wind picked up to go along with the rain, and didn't stop until about three this afternoon. I think there must be wind storms in the late fall to help the last leaves off the trees. I thought that was just a Chicago thing, but apparently not! We've got a little raking to do when everything dries out(by tomorrow most likely). This Mulberry tree had all it's leaves yesterday.