At least I wore closed-toe shoes today

I don't have long pants, a rain coat, or an umbrella with me though. We had a wicked downpour last night followed by some serious thunder and lightning. This morning, though, the air was so hot and dry it seemed like it would never rain again. A few minutes ago I jumped out of my skin when a loud crack of thunder startled me. It was extra surprsing because the view outside my office window was puffy clouds in the background, but mostly blue sky. Nothing seemed threatening at all.

Now I think it's raining heavier than I've ever seen it rain before. I said that to Mike last night and I think today's is even heavier. Luckily I brought a lunch today so I can hunker down for a rainy afternoon and hope the sun is out by the time I go home. I'm sitting in my office, watching water blow in from under the door, hoping it doesn't blow in through the windows. I'm praying to the gods of Uninterrupted Power Supply, which will keep my computer running for about 20 minutes if the lights go out (and they are blinking on and off).

I love my job. Today I'm researching umuganuro, a Burundian planting festival. I'm looking for harvest-type festivals to write about in conjunction with Halloween / Samhain / Thanksgiving, what-have-you. But it's technically spring here, not fall, and since it's pretty much the same temperature year-round, I haven't quite figured out the growing and harvest seasons yet. I think umuganuro is later in the year, in December. Whenever it is, isn't it great that I get to do this sort of thing all day long?