Storm Season

Ange of the North, I wish you and your family, a

VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

What a superb tradition Thanksgiving is. I have such fond memories of being invited to join with a beautiful Canadian family and their extended family members, around a scrumptious roasted turkey dinner….lights, warmth, chatter, good food, great company, lots to be thankful about! I only wish we had something like it here. We could always do with reminders to be more thankful!
(Incidentally, it was also the first time I had ever tasted Spaghetti Squash!)….


There is one thing that Queenslanders are particularly grateful for, and that is RAIN!
I realise, this may perhaps be a difficult concept for Vancouverites to comprehend!
Because it doesn’t rain here for any great length of time, when Storm Season arrives, the wild weather and rain it brings, is a time of celebration….kinda! Also, the drought here 3 years ago made people much more appreciative of any downpours especially close to the onset of summer. Today, we awoke to water cascading off the roof and gurgling down into the gutters and watertanks. Don’t you love lying in bed and listening to the sound of the rain and wind and thunder outside, whilst you’re snuggled beneath your warm sheets and doona…..This is the sight that greeted us when we finally made it out from under our cosy beds -


Yes, this was the view from our back lawn.


You can tell that people here just aren’t used to a lot of rain. I overheard a news reporter interviewing people on the streets about how they were faring with the wet weather (big news!), and was amazed to hear some of the comments, including a lady who said that she is NEVER, EVER going to wear ‘suede shoes’ again when it rains!!!! Like, helloooo!!!!


Our pool - full to the brim!

People were out in their droves with their cameras, taking photos of the water in the wet (um....me included!). And everywhere (schools, malls, like everywhere!), people were talking about the rain....(or even blogging about it)!


The raging river that you can see here (above and below) is usually a beautiful green parkland! And that is a bridge you can see, almost totally submerged. About 250mm of rain has fallen in the past 24hrs in some of the worst affected areas. 3 years ago, our main water reservoirs were at danger levels, being less than 16% full......today, they are all full, and reservoirs are having to release water at regular intervals!



Do teachers over there get worried when it is a windy school day? I remember kids going uncontrollably spack at school on windy days….here I reckon the rain has the same effect! All the kids at school were SO excited/excitable!! My boys definitely couldn’t wait to get to school to see how it had fared with the flash floods….and to enjoy the prospect of rain all day.....wet weather lunchtimes....mega puddles to splash in......colourful umbrellas to destroy.....slippery wet concrete to skid on......noisy, revved up kids.....muddy patches.....water, water everywhere!

I guess the soccer goal is at least still visible. Not too bad considering!
(And thus was born the sport of waterpolo….?!)



Imagine being the unlucky teacher on duty today!
Imagine how many kids there were, that were tempted to check out the raging streams…

Imagine!.....I'm sure you can! :)