Monsoon Trough

Monsoon Trough.  That’s what they call it when bucket loads of rain settle into the Atoll and plan to hang around for a while.

But the forecast at noon said “widely scattered showers” through this evening.  It did rain off and on through the day but was mainly dry this afternoon.

I’m working away at my desk and on a roll so decided to skip the 16:10 bus.  The next one would arrive just over half an hour later so I stayed on.

Mistake.

About 15 minutes later the roar in my office was a testament to the torrential downpour pounding our building.  I pulled up the radar.  Lots of yellow and red with the wide expanse of green, and as a bonus, lightning warning for the next hour.

Awesome!

No change in the dull roar overhead as I prepared to leave.  Dropped all my things into my dry bag and rolled it up tight.  Put on my ball cap (brim keeps the rain off my glasses). Pulled my trusty knee-length poncho over my head and securely snapped, tightened, cinched and fastened everywhere possible.

Didn’t matter.

I opened the office door and instantly felt as if I was channeling Jim Cantore giving Irma updates.  Fogged and wet glasses.  Wind.  Rain.  No…  Rain implies droplets.  This was the ice bucket challenge sans ice coming at me sideways out of a bucket the size of the planet. Water already standing inches deep everywhere.

And the bus doesn’t stop at our building.  I had to wade along the sidewalk and across the parking lot for about a hundred yards to the stop, which has no formal bus shelter.  I walked up to the front door to get under the tiny overhang while waiting, but it was a fruitless gesture at that point.  I hadn’t gotten five feet from my own building before being completely soaked from the waist down.  By the time I reached the awning ‘protection’ I could feel rivulets of water somehow trickling down my neck and back.

A few minutes later the Big Bus without A/C comes into view.  Every window completely fogged, including the windshield.  Felt like I brought gallons of water with me as I climbed onboard, apologizing for dripping on people as I made the way to my seat.  Once seated I realized everyone else was in the same state of saturation.

The driver took a quick swipe of the glass in front of him with a rag and we trudged onward.  It was then I realized there was a steady ribbon of water dripping down from a seam on the bus roof into the seat next to me.

Didn’t matter.

Between that and the fact that most of the windows were down about an inch with the rain coming in sideways, and of course the saturation level of the passengers, the inside of the bus had no dry spots.  Yet it was still much dryer than the alternative.

Creeping along on the flooded roads we eventually got to my stop where several of us disembarked.  One lady commented about waiting until it passes but having seen the radar (and knowing how drenched she was already) I advised once more into the breach.

Because at this point I had to retrieve my bike.

Plodded across the street to the bike racks, at this point purposely splashing in the road rivers for fun.  I stowed my bag in the bike basket and set off into the monsoon.

It’s a very interesting sensation riding through water running 6″ deep.  It’s maybe a half mile to my house so I’m pretty much enjoying myself and trying not to run into anything due to the wind gusts and low visibility (fogged glasses, driving rains, flapping poncho).  I get ready to turn up our back alley and realize that if I do I’ll be in water over two feet deep.  Quick swing back onto the road and on a little further before turning into my street.  Water about 6″ deep in the center and deeper at the roadsides.  My pedals were splashing into the water with each revolution.

Turned into my yard and got bogged down in the grass and standing water so walked it the rest of the way around to the back door.  Lightning flashed just as I got there.

Once more warm and dry, our mini monsoon reduced to a light drizzle, typing this up while a chili pie heats up in the oven.

What an adventure – another great day in paradise!