So we had a monsoon in Oregon (Vancouver.. whatever). It was amazing! In Arizona we used to have monsoons every year, they would start with a dust storm and a cooling muddy rain, and end in the most spectacular light show you could ever see. Oregon and Washington monsoons are something different altogether.
The night was quiet and even a little boring, there was oppressive heat paired with a humidity that made it like swimming. I have never seen Portland look so much like LA. We had a smog layer that was just intense, a haze a deep as the Willamette river, and spanning the Columbia. I couldn't even see the 205 bridge when I crossed the Interstate.
It was a day made for hiding in the bedroom with a fan on and a cold glass of lemonade (as long as you didn't mind the smell of smog). I could barely hold a conversation with my mother, as I was distracted by that sticky yucky feeling that only a grimy humid day can give.
At sunset we had a short shower. It only lasted a minute, but it had the heavy raindrops that we rarely see in Oregon. I spent the short time outside being battered by the hard and heavy rain, and in that short minute, the horizon lengthened, the sky changed color and there was an amazing sent of ozone.
Near midnight the thunder and lightning came to a head, and the skies opened in the way I've only seen in Arizona. I love the deluge of water that sounds like a crashing wave on the house. In second the gutters were overflowing, adding to the cacophony of our very own monsoon. I had to have my windows open and fell asleep to the sounds of the water and thunder, along with the flashes of lightning, I think it was just Mother Nature warming up for a summer full of surprises.
I've already had a few, and I know they will keep coming, yet I will still be surprised each time.
