Oh! Didn’t It Rain!
I love it that this YouTube version of Mahalia Jackson’s rendition of “Oh Didn’t It Rain!” starts out with photos in Wadi Rum in Jordan, a couple peeks at Petra, and as the camera backs off, the effects of wind and rain on the topography of the Wadi Rum area. We camped there for three nights, lo, these many years ago, going on camelback into the deeper parts of the canyon. It was unforgettable.
My trip back into Doha last night was unforgettable.
In what is usually the most mundane of flights, we found ourselves bumping up and down with lightning striking all around us, from about the halfway point all the way into Doha. I’ve never had a lot of faith in the aerodynamics that keeps airplanes up in the air, and seeing flashes of lightning all around me was a genuinely religious experience, LOL.
(From article on lightning strikes plane in Japan: According to a Scientific American article about lightning strikes and aircraft, its is “estimated that on average, each airplane in the U.S. commercial fleet is struck lightly by lightning more than once each year”. However, the article notes that the last crash directly attributed to a lightning strike occurred back in 1967 when the fuel tank exploded.)
At the airport, all the baggage handlers actually had on rain-gear, and on the way home, there were deep pools where drains have clogged. And, as AdventureMan said, when you live at sea level, just where is the water going to drain?
I am so thankful to be home. Home for the next scant three weeks, anyway, as I pack up all those boxes once again for what we think will be (one of) our last moves. Sorting, giving away, “can I live without this if I leave it behind?” “Will I regret it forever if I leave this behind?” “Is there someone who could give this a good home?”
I have two great avenues of disposal; my own church, where incoming church personnel can make use of household goods and not have to buy everything new, and my housekeeper’s church, where they cherish anything they get.
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Oh the rain was wonderful! It also rained the previous afternoon and evening…For some reason, though, I think the thunder in Doha is scary, while thunder and thunderstorms in general back in the US were things I loved listening to.
There are some scary things about thunder and heavy rain in Doha – like a million people who don’t know how to adjust their driving to the dangerous, oil slick conditions! Like the unexpected huge reservoirs of water otherwise known as roads!
But afterwards, oh! the clarity! Don’t you just love the way it tamps down all the dust and haze and you can see forever? The big moon last night was so clear!
welcome back! I can’t imagine how hectic the next few weeks will be – but also how exciting! do you think you’ll make it to Seattle this summer? I’d love to see you!
We most certainly will be back in Seattle, rounding up all the items I have left hither and yon – carpets under Sparkle’s guest room bed, storage locker items, and tubs at GiGi’s . . . are YOU going to be in Seattle for the summer?? 🙂