Friday, March 15, 2013

Pray for Sun, Please

We're starting our Spring Break - after tonight's last performance of the world's first and only Hawaiian Opera, "Keaomelemele" (which is amazing, by the way).  Every morning this week has felt like summer is coming, a nice change after all that cold and high winds we've had, but by the afternoon, large drops of rain are falling down.  I want Spring Break to be dry and sunny during the day with gentle rain at night, so I can get out there in the garden and get this quarter's veggies in the ground for May and June harvest. 

Besides not being able to garden efficiently in the rain, I must say that I had enough rain yesterday afternoon.  I had brought dinner to my son who was performing a bit later, and was waiting for him to come out of track practice.  His friend was with me waiting as well, I had his and his twin and my son's dress white uniforms in the car and their dinner and I was ready to go home (had to come back at 9pm to get my son).  I heard this sound like drumming on the metal roofs of the school. 

"Is that rain?"  I asked because it wasn't raining where I was and it was a different sound than I used to. "Oh, gosh!  Get in the car!"

We dived into the car just in time.  The rain was, and I am not kidding, bigger than golf balls.  It was huge and lashing sideways.  We waiting for about 5 minutes and in that 5 minutes, the drainage ditches were filled with raging waters.  It was pretty intense.  Still no son, and no daughter who I'd sent to get him.  I decided to go with an umbrella to get them. 

Scurrying from  the front door of the car to trunk got me absolutely soaked.  The umbrella kept my head dry, but the rest of me was as wet as if I had jumped in the ocean.  So when I found my son, and realized he was worried about his school laptop even though it was in his backpack in it's fairly water resistant case, I figured I was already wet, so what the heck - I gave him the umbrella.  He used it to protect his school bag.  Just opening the door left 1/2 inch of water in the handle well. 

We were all flustered and irritated and could hardly hear each other over the rain on the roof of the car.  I dropped the boys of the minimal overhang at the bus ramp and drove away.  Amazingly, just a half mile away there was no rain at all. 

Not so amazingly, my son called me when I had gotten nearly all the way home saying he forgot his ID.  He needed his ID to get scanned in for attendance, so I had to drive back.  I was one cranky mom, believe me.  On top of that, my clothes are all too big and they started to fall off with the weight of all that water.  So, I was walking around looking for one boy in a sea of kids wearing the same dress white uniforms, holding up my pants and squelching in my shoes.  He wasn't where I told him to be, of course.  And, there was no parking, of course.  I had to park in the back of the building and slog around looking for him.  I finally grabbed a boy from my advisory and asked him to, "Please go in the locker room and tell my kolohe son to get his okole out here - RIGHT NOW!" 

Anyway, when our Poʻo Kumu told us we could leave between this morning's matinee and tonight's big final performance, I took the opportunity to leave.  Didn't watch my daughter's 8th grade Holo Run, told my son he was going to have to wait for lunch, and went and used my parent's and sister's generous birthday gifts to buy new shoes that aren't falling apart and pants that aren't falling off of me.  I didn't spend it all - I hate shopping with a deep passion - but at least I won't look disreputable when I come back from Spring Break. 

Now, I am just hoping for a little nice weather over break - so send a few good dry thoughts for me. 

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