Around about 4 p.m., the skies opened, and we were hit with a thunderstorm the likes of which I haven't seen for years. A torrent of rain--the street instantly a whitewater river, branches crashing everywhere, lakes in the garden, and meanwhile Tom was on the highway trying to get home, unable to see a damn thing. Eventually he squeezed onto an exit and into town, to find roads flooded, cars abandoned. It was pretty hair-raising.

We got 2 inches of rain in the space of an hour. At least some of my tender fall crops are flattened, but I haven't yet gone outside to inspect the details of the damage. I daresay most things will bounce back, but lordy.

I guess we're making up for our drought all at once.

This morning I'll reconnoiter the carnage, do some housework, pull things together for Ian's class this afternoon. I froze peppers yesterday, and made enough sauce for dinner, but I've still got bowls of tomatoes ripening on the counter, plus beans to pickle tomorrow. I need to finish my T. S. Eliot homework this weekend, and I still haven't picked up my library book, but I will definitely not have to water the garden. If this paragraph sounds disorganized, that's because I am.