Racing Against the Clouds and Dashing Through the Raindrops

As I left work and began my walk home yesterday evening, I was well aware of the threatening dark clouds that were churning above my head. But I seem to remember that weather patterns usually move from west to east or from south to north. Usually. And since I was heading decidedly east to west and at least a little bit from north to south, I thought I would do my best to race against the clouds.

Moving constantly west, there was always a patch of blue sky in front of me, although the clouds behind me kept spreading through the sky. I decided that if need be, I could hop on the metro if I started seeing bolts of lightning. Of course during the part of the walk when the sky looked its most scary, I was walking across the Potomac on a metal bridge, at the furthest point from any metro station.

I was a good 4 miles into my walk, however, before the rain began, and since I didn't hear any thunder or see any lighting, I kept on my merry way. All along the walk, I kept trying to decide if I smelled ozone in the air, because I remember that's a sure sign that lightning is near by.

But I was left with the question: What on earth does ozone smell like? I thought I smelled it at one point, but it was the idiot crossing the street in the other direction who was smoking a cigarette. About a mile later, I thought that the air felt heavy and seemed oddly-scented, but it was just something burning at a nearby restaurant.

Anyway, just as I crossed the last street, BOOM! A huge rumble of thunder roared through the air, and the rain came down even harder. I ran the last hundred feet or so and made it inside with not a moment to spare.

And I have pat myself on the back, just because I'm proud of having walked more than 28 miles over four evenings this week. Pretty cool, huh? I hope that you all have a great weekend!!