Wishing We Had Some Of This Bygone Rain Now.

This entry popped up in my Facebook memories from 9 years ago.  I had just returned from visiting Mama and I was complaining about the rain. LOL. These days, with a month of greater than 100F days, all I want is some of that drated rain. Never satisfied. 

July 29, 2013

Home again safe and sound after a week in the Non-Sunshine State. Non because it rained daily the two weeks before I arrived, and the daily monsoons continued during the week I was there. 

It rained so much, both of the trucks a friend has were molding because they couldn't dry out. Mama's driveway was home to a school of pan-sized catfish. At mid-day the skeeters were so thick, their wingspan obliterated the sun when it peeked out of the clouds. Mama's garden-that-used-to-be-pond was a pond once more. In a frantic attempt to find a dry place, a cute little  wet tree frog jumped (multiple times) inside my SUV--the last time I sat it down and explained to him I wasn't being mean--I was showing him "Tough Love" for his own good--he would dehydrate and die in the Texas draught. I think our little talk finally sank in--at least I haven't seen the little stow-a-way. Yet. 

But the worst part of their darkness was the fact that they have not been converted to the Better Way--it's hit-or-miss on places that carry Diet Dr Pepper.  

Many of the grocery stores don't even carry it fully loaded.  You can't count on it being at convenience stores--there's not even an empty slot to give an impression of hope that "one day" it might be stocked. Even Wal-Mart, which has everything, frequently has fewer than two rows of the liquid gold.  I beat up children and the original LOLs (Little Old Ladies) on delivery day. I cultivated relationships with the DDP vendors to obtain my fix. All but one lone fast food chain were dumbstruck when I inquired if they supplied the stuff. The only lone shining light leading the way to convert the Heathens to the light of DDP was Sonic. Their sign was a beacon that drew me quicker than an open door drew the black cloud of skeeters hovering outside every door--waiting for their chance to gain entry into a dry space. 

Do you know how many meals you can eat daily at Sonic before they start to charge you rental space? Six. The three main meals, plus your mid-morning snack, mid-afternoon snack, and midnight snack.  My servers, Sally Jo, Jasper Dale, and The Twins (Lovey-Lu and Dovey-Lu) became my newest and dearest BFFs. I tipped them in mosquito repellent and rain gear. We became so close, Sally Jo is naming her first born after me. I hope it's a girl.