Its raining, its pouring....

Only I'm not snoring.  Not yet anyway, not that it isn't the perfect weather for it.  We're having a tropical depression.  Its raining cats and dogs.  TD 16, as someone on the radio called it this morning, will be moving over us tonight.  Then it heads up the coast.  Its supposed to keep raining off and on for the next week, but not these kind of downpours.  Its a good thing too, because its seems that this kind of rain is to South Florida what the threat of snow is to DC.  I'm not sure they rush out for toilet paper and white bread, like up north, but they certainly get the panic on.

A meeting was cancelled last night because of weather that hadn't even arrived yet.  There was a rumor that one of the colleges was closed but luckily that turned out to be false (how lame would that have been!).  Yesterday a patient canceled for Friday.

Now I will give you that it was raining very hard tonight.  Very hard.  Coming home around 7 pm, I'd even say it looked similar to a snow sky.  You know the kind, brighter than it should be, almost iridescent in its glow.  The clouds were so thick with water, but not the dark and ominous kinds.  We are so prone to dramatic lightning storms here, but this was not that kind of storm.  Not even super high winds, just clouds full of water waiting to pour down on top of already soaked streets and yards and everything in between.  I am tucked safely inside watching the storm through french door panes and listening to the insistent beat of rain on palm leaves and my little balcony. 

Seeing as how we were having a weather event, I decided to treat myself to dinner at Whole Foods.  Its funny, since living in tropical South Florida I have found that I rarely eat soup.  Its not like I don't eat other hot foods so I'm not sure why soup has the feeling of being a food that is eaten when its cold outside.  Its a comfort food directly connected to weather.  To me at least.  But today, in some odd nod to the weather, I decided it was time for soup.  So I treated myself to a Lobster Chowder from Whole Foods.  Maybe that's a compromise soup -- lobster for summer and soup for winter.  No matter, it was simply delicious.  It was expensive but organically, wholesomely worth the price.

Back to the weather for a second, maybe all this rain will help my plants revive themselves.  Falling victim to the move to this new house, my plants took a hit r maybe I should say, a bite.  It turns out that those cute little snails all around that reminded me of the periwinkles we used to find at the seashore were really plant devourers hiding in cute little shells.  I used to apologize if I accidentally stepped on one, to no one but the snail, but no more.  Not that I go out of my way to step on them,  they crunch most disconcertingly when that happens, but they certainly have not been kind to my plants.  Most of the plants look like they have been chewed down to the fiber parts and spit back out.  The only ones to be spared are my pineapple plants -- I hope those sharp edges on the leaves gave them a run for their money -- and the poinsettias holding on from last Christmas.  Maybe they're Jewish snails, wait, that can't be right. I digress.   I've taken most of the poor orchids up to the balcony to try and save them from the critters that live in the outside world, on my patio.  First I had to de-snail them which was a job neither pleasant nor easy.  Hopefully they'll accept my forgiveness (the plants, that is) and come back stronger than ever.

The house is slowly coming along.  I unpack and decorate in fits and starts.  My niece comes next weekend and I trust she'll be helpful in putting the furniture just where it should be... or not.  Its a work in progress.  I've got more things up on the walls and that goes a long way to feeling like home.

We're coming up on two years here in Miami and that might just merit a party.  But I need the house at least moderately in order for that to happen.  The hugeness of this landmark, however, is not lost on me.  More on that later.

Sometimes I miss the sound of rain on the skylight i.e.E Street, but its a different sound here.  So for tonight, I'll enjoy it. Everything here is so green and lush both during and after the rain.  As fall comes there will be different flowers and palm trees sprouting odd appendages.  Its still hard to tell the seasons but if you look really closely.....

Well, come see for yourself.  Visitors are always welcome.  The guest bedroom is just waiting for you!  Until then...