Rain...Lots of Rain

Suzhou is in the midst of its rainy season. This fact escaped me last year, either because we didn't get a lot of rain or I was too overwhelmed with everything else going on to notice. Showers will sprout up in a matter of minutes, last about that long and then the sun dries things in even less time. Now, I've seen plenty of gully washers, but yesterday I thought we were going to get washed into the canals.

After the girls returned from Mandarin camp, we all went to Auchen so they could get their hair cut. I must add that for less than it costs for one of them to get their hair cut in the US, all three got some styling 'dos'. Wash, head massage, cut, dry and style for fifteen RMB (roughly, $2.10).

When we were finished we treated ourselves to Dairy Queen. As we sat and people-watched we noticed folks coming in absolutely drenched. I'm not talking wet hair, I'm talking dripping wet from head to toe. Soon we saw everyone standing at the various entrances. The rain was coming down so hard it looked foggy. When my eyes finally were able to focus, I could see the torrents. Gutters were inundated, water overflowing like Victoria Falls...ok, maybe not that much.

For the next forty five minutes, while we went grocery shopping, it continued to rain. We came out of the parking garage into a newly formed lake. The streets were flooded and cars were stalled everywhere. What a mess. By the time we got home, however, the roads were already drying and the workers were out sweeping up the debris.

One of the things I haven't yet learned is to take in my drying laundry before I leave the house for the day. Chances are it's going to rain and something is going to get blown off the racks. I forget just about everytime and everytime I end up washing a few things over again. This particular storm put down so much rain that the clothes that did fall weren't lying on the ground, they were floating in about six inches of standing water. I waded out to gather the filthy mess and then had a slight panic attack as the water was only about an inch from coming over the door jam into the house and thunder was rumbling in the distance. You're probably thinking there must be a drain or something. Well, there is, but in an effort to fix the leaking second floor bathroom ceiling I think the repairmen just sealed off the third floor balcony drain. Absolutely no water was going down that thing.

So with thunder and lightening closing in, I called on my girls. With plastic cups as our scoops we threw water over the railing in our attempt at makeshift drainage. A couple of cups got tossed in the haste and we were all disgustingly sweaty and wet at the same time. Hopefully, this storm won't put down as much rain as yesterday's storm. Though, I did remember to bring in the laundry.