Storms And Swine Flu

Swine flu in the news. Naturally BBC was ahead of the curve on this one. I called my friend in the South West to ask what was happening. He lives right near the Mexican border,so I figured they would have the most accurate coverage. Nope, not a thing. By the morning that had changed and there were dozens of news stories about it. This afternoon the Canadian news picked it up, as we have a few cases here.

Will this be another hype like bird flu, resulting in unnecessary concern? Or is this the big pandemic the WHO has been yammering on about ?

I know I shouldn't joke, but I have been hospitalized twice with flu (yeah I had a flu shot both times) and I was too sick to die! Recovering was worse, because then I had to eat hospital food!

Remember me saying I wanted to take pictures of the tulips blooming? Ha Ha !
Yesterday I was once again caught in a huge thunderstorm . That happened about five times last summer.

Same old story. Left the house to enjoy a beautiful,sunny,23C day. I decided to give my new sandals a test run, which would later prove to be a serious impediment. It's almost impossible to rush when your sandals are filled with water and your feet are sliding all over the place.
There was no hint of a storm, except for the wind, which I found out later was record high that day. Down by the harbour people were fishing, strolling and bird watching, without a care. The only worry was looking out for bike riders and the crazies on roller blades.Do they ever watch where they're going ?

Then on the way home in almost the same spot where it has happened before, the sky started to turn dark grey,then black. The wind was crazy !! Don't ask me what a wedding party was doing out there, with their umbrellas getting smashed and the bride's maids shrieking ! No place to take shelter, the only thing to do was keep walking,really fast. Found a place to stop for a break but it was pretty useless as the wind was swirling all around, so time to walk fast again. That's when it started to pour. It was actually painful, as the wind made the rain feel like it was slapping me. All I could do was put my head down, keep walking, and think about the nice cup of tea I would have once I got home. That's when the sandals gave out. I couldn't take them off either because I can't stand walking bare foot. It hurts too much. What was really annoying, was how just one block from home it turned into a totally insane storm, with crashing thunder and scary lightning. I couldn't run thanks to the those dumb sandals.

Obviously I made it back safe, as I'm here now writing about it . You should have seen the way I looked,like a water logged Rastafarian. My hair so tangled and matted, it took a good ten minutes to comb it out. Besides my wrecked sandals I accidentally left my soaked black pants on top of my soaked t shirt. Now it has a black streak on it that won't wash out.

I hope the bridal party fared better.