Rain, Rain

Few things are as refreshing as a nice spring or summer thunderstorm. Not the local bulk storms, mind you. I'm talking about the big Corellian storms now. The kind where thunder shakes the walls and lightning strikes from the clouds like the greatest fireworks show you have ever seen. When I was a kid my brothers and I would go outside and make "rain gauges" in the sandbox, which consisted mostly of piles of sand lines with leaves, whenever a storm came along. We would often go biking in the rain, and look for overflowing ditches and culverts, just to see the spectacle of it all. I still enjoy driving in the rain, but whether transportation is involved or not, it's a great feeling to experience the liquid renewal of the earth. The storms outside right now are subsiding and moving Eastward, but gosh darn it, they were cool while they lasted.

Today more or less kicked off our unofficial Summer Travel Season, which means that starting this morning my wife and I began the first of many trips we will be taking this summer. She is in Saint Louis right now for her friend's wedding, and I will be flying in tomorrow to join in the festivities. We will spend the day with my aunt on Sunday and then make our way back here the following Monday. The next several weeks, then, are going to involve visits to Nebraska, Montana, northern Minnesota, not to mention several weekend-ish events that will be happening around us here in the Cities. I also have three wedding videos lined up for the summer, and my wife and I are both going to be busy with our jobs too. *whew* It's good to stay busy, though, and if it's anything like last summer, we'll be in for a good time.

And by now my leftover Papa Murphys (hamburger and pepperoni, with pineapple chunks added by me) is about done, so it's time to check the oven and pop in Gladiator on the ol' VCR.