Lady Lucky

I'm feelin' lucky.

Fearsome storms moved through the neighborhood last night, sending us all to cower in basements and wonder what damage would await us when we dared to ascend to street level. Even from our subterranean shelters, we could hear the howling winds and the pelting sheets of rain; the dark cloud that has been following me around these past few months had broadened its target, sweeping up my neighbors in its wrath. More collateral damage. Yes, I am self absorbed enough to feel that a random cloudburst is really all about me.

As it turns out, the damage wasn't as bad as I had imagined. Sure, my neighbors' tree snapped in half and crushed a portion of my fence; sure, my entire street looked like a war zone, with branches and entire trees and recycling bins flung everywhere; and yes, I found a roof shingle or two on my front lawn, and they look remarkably similar to the ones on my own roof.

But I'm counting my blessings. My daughter's flight had arrived in plenty of time to avoid the virtual halt in air traffic. I had arrived home with Manny from our stroll around the nearby duck pond a good ten minutes before the storm arrived (thanks to Manny's keen sixth sense, which I suppose is now just his fifth sense, but, whatever the case, it is keen and he knew trouble was imminent). I am a card carrying procrastinator, so my garbage and recycling bins had not yet made it out to the curb. The bird shit on my deck chairs that I've been meaning to hose off (if I could find a hose) was completely washed away by the torrents. And we all lived to tell the tale -- not just me and my family members, but the other poor innocent bystanders caught in the path of my dark cloud.

My good luck followed me into today. Driving home from work with my top down, I spotted a single rain drop on my windshield. Shit. As soon as I could, I pulled off into a gas station so I could put up the top. Seconds later, as I sat dry (and rather smug) in my car, it started to pour. Ooh, how I loved that rain.

Life is good.