People have half-joked that it rains maybe 20 minutes a year here in Abu Dhabi. It rained for about five minutes, and I thought "well that was a fun treat" and assumed that was it.
Then I went into work. It was cloudy. Rolled up the blinds. Opened up my laptop and got to work on emails and some tasks that needed focus which I cannot provide during regular work hours. And then I heard this sound again. Rain! Not torrential, but a nice rain. And it lasted for a few hours.
Was careful driving home. It was still raining, and I know how our Southern California roads can be after it hasn't rained in awhile. Nice and slick. Given the infrequency of rain here, and you throw in the factor of drivers who still go really fast and ride people's bumpers, then I'm good with slowing down myself and ratcheting up the defensive driving.
Anyway, just had to share. Because the rain is a fun change in my view.
Which reminds me another point I meant to share earlier this week.
A not fun change in the weather is the fog here. This time of year, we can have some very thick fog in the mornings. Steer-wheel clenching kind of fog, where are in patches you cannot see 50 feet in front of you. Thick in enough area of the UAE that it's too dangerous to bus the kids to school. (And again, you have a handful of people speeding along, and with no lights on, like it's any other day driving in the UAE.) While a photo of darker clouds and wet asphalt isn't all the interesting to anyone else, here's an idea of the fog earlier this week. I was in a taxi (most days I still carpool with Danielle, but we had different schedules that day) ... I was clenching the little handle above the door most of the time, hoping others were being careful. This shot is a little blurry, but it was actually one of the better points of visibility on the road (hence my willingness for a moment to let go of the little handle).
Just after this photo (taken from my office window), it cleared enough that a couple of us could take our scheduled drive up to our campus in Fujairah. (Photos of that scenery to share in another blog.)
I'm behind in my reading! :-)
ReplyDeleteLiving in Bakersfield, I can identify with your joy of hearing rain. Oh, and we have the fog problem too. Generally from Nov. to Febuary, so that is not to bad but, it is Tule fog, the kind that sits on the ground, but still covers a car top.