Wacky Weather.

We've had quite a fun weekend here. We were told that thunderstorms would be heading our way this past weekend. Great, we all said, looking forward to having the rain water our lawns for us.  And the rain did indeed water our lawn.  Our side of town saw around 3 inches of rain, a nice drenching that filled up the drainage ditch behind the fence and brought out the frogs to frolic.  I went about my day, cleaning up a few things, napping, reading, and just hanging out.   A typical weekend, now that Zane's soccer season has ended. 

San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the United States. It takes us about an hour to drive directly across town to the other side.  And the other side got almost ten inches of rain in comparison to our three. 

Three inches of rain in a parched area plagued by drought is refreshing. 

Ten inches of rain tends to drown the land.. 

Three inches of rain soaks easily into the ground and down into the aquifer, our main water supply. 

Ten inches tries to soak into the ground, but the ground can't handle so much, and so the water gathers and rises until homes are underwater, cars are washed away, and the roads are impassable, before it manages to drain off.   

And that's exactly what was happening, thirty miles or so away from my house.  Too much rain, in too little time, and lots of creeks and streams and rivers with banks to overflow. 

People lost their minds, full of disbelief that this happened at all.  No matter how many times these same roads have flooded over the years, no matter how many times this part of the world has been hit by flooding, people still act surprised.  People still ignore the barricades that are put up at low water crossings, and still seem shocked when the rush of the water carries their cars off.  People build their houses in a flood plain, and cannot believe it when they find their house underwater. 

And I suppose when the water recedes, people's memories of this weekend will recede as well.  I may not like it, but I guess that one of the best coping mechanisms that humans have is the ability to forget some of the traumatic things that happen, just so they can move on. 

Because life doesn't stop, does it?  No, life keeps rolling along like a river.  We may try to dam it up or direct the flow of the water, but the river does what it will, and we just get to hold onto the raft and enjoy the ride.