Waiting Out the Storm

The rain is pelting here; it has been for days.  I can hear it, morning noon and night, though the gray cloudy sky obscures any and all sense of time. 

Pitter patter. Pitter patter. Thrap thrap thrap.

The rain keeps coming.

And then the wind.

Whooooo.  Whooooo  whooooo hooooo.

Through our thin walls. 

The Roomie’s room bears the brunt of the howling wind.  Insidiously, it leaks through invisible cracks and seeps into her room.  At night the thrap thrap thrapping and the whoo hooo whoooing make sleep fitful.

Restless sleep.  Not awakened by the commotion, but constantly tapping at our quiet minds. 

What to do in a storm like this?  The inevitable moment of marvel at the giant pieces of hail, piled like snow on our window pane.  The gusting clouds, wooshing through the sky.  For a moment, a hint of blue just peeking through the clouds.  But it’s gone in an instant and the pelting starts again.

What to do?

Bundle.  Huddle.  Keep warm.

Now’s the time for comfort food.  Now’s the time for stewed lentils for lunch and glasses of red wine with pizza for dinner.  Now’s the time for overpriced jars of salsa and corn tortilla chips from the international section to satiate a palate starved for home. 

Now’s the time to wait it out.  ‘Cause vacation is almost here.  And so is California.