Ok, we can stop with the rain dance. At least for now.

We have had so much rain, we even had a flash flood in our neighborhood, not uncommon here but not an everyday occurrence either. My son and I went down to the creek a couple blocks away to see what it looked like with real water flowing through. Not a smart thing to be near a stream during a flood but it sure was amazing!

About a week ago we had had 8 inches of rain in 30 days and we have had more since. In 2002, the yearly total of rain was only 8 inches. Climatically, the weather pattern has shifted to such a degree as to put a permanent end to the drought. However, it will still take years to fully recover.

And now the plants in my yard are drowning. Bushes, and even small trees have adapted to drought conditions to an extent that they cannot handle all the rain.

If there is one thing you can say about Colorado weather, it is: dramatic. One of my earliest memories here is how bright the sun is, the deep azure blue of the sky, and the clouds often seem so close to the ground; like you could just reach up and touch them. And the intensity of the weather always amazes me. Cracks of thunder that reverberate in your sternum, flooding so sudden like a faucet turning on and then off a few minutes later, blizzards whipping up out of nowhere, sun so blazing hot - forget about frying an egg on the sidewalk, you could fry one in the sun on your arm! And the wind storms... now those are the worst.

Not a place for the timid of heart.

Weather has always affected me. For good or ill. I never knew I had Seasonal Affective Disorder until I was in graduate school walking down the street in Boulder, CO in January when I suddenly realized that it was the middle of winter and I was not depressed. I looked around me and saw that even though it had snowed the night before, the sun was shining brightly in that beautiful blue sky, the Flatirons were draped in soft capes of snow; how could anyone feel depressed here? Back in Michigan, winter meant endless days of cold, drab weather. In college, I spent a winter afternoon literally searching for color: I was determined to find some color in all that gray, I NEEDED to find some color in all that gray.

And it all came together for me on that street corner in Boulder.

As did the realization that my dream of moving to Seattle was not a good fit...

With this dramatic shift in weather we have now, I also notice shifts happening inside myself. I’ve been feeling out of sorts lately, not quite sick, but certainly not like myself either. I seem to have lost my balance and don’t quite know where my ground is anymore, a most distressing experience for any B.

Standing on slippery rock.

Then yesterday, I was stung by a B, a yellow jacket really. How painful! And part of a much larger story that I will save you from for now. But I think the experience was quite apropos in a lesson/gift from the universe sort of way.

I’ll bee sure to savor the meaning.