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Summer Storm
It's been a week of hot in Portland. The last five days have been in the nineties and low hundreds! Summer in Portland heat. I took a walk along the river after work. It was a beautiful day, with a few high clouds, a light blue sky and a clear view of Mt. Hood.
Most of us don't have air conditioning up here. It comes in handy only about eight weeks a year - other than that we either revel or suffer. I got home, opened windows and turned on fans.
At 9:30 I there were two loud booms from outside. "I couldn't be!" I thought. There was another. Then a flash.
I smelled it first. That dusty, sweet smell of fat raindrops falling on bone-dry pavement. Then I heard the flat splat! splat! outside the window. Looking out I could see the circles of moisture spreading on the parking lot across the steet.
More thunder, more flashes. Then it came. The crackle of thousands of tiny water bombs pouring out of the sky. Rainwater boucing off the street, caught in the headlights of cars that managed to look surprised as they passed. I opened more windows to bring in the freshly ionized air, then closed them as raindrops rebounded from the window sill into my living room.
Twenty minutes later, it's over. The windows are open and the apartment is cooling down with freshly washed air.
I love these times.
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