hurricane?

You know that scene in the beginning of the animated "Little Mermaid"---the one where they're having a jolly good time and suddenly the sky opens up, and a sailor shouts, "The hurricane's a'comin'!" Remember that?

That was today. I'm sitting at my computer, dutifully working on my powerpoint, thinking about sciencey things, and it's gotten a bit dark. I mean, not surprising for an overcast day around 4 pm with my not-very-light-giving windows.

Suddenly, downpour. And the wind picks up and funnels through the courtyard between Ashdown and McCormick. Normally, I can leave my windows when it rains...it's not a big deal. There's a sort of sash above the windows, and they're inset into the building, anyway. Unless it is raining sideways. Then I'm done for. Suddenly, I realize the the windows are open in the kitchens around the floor, and I go to shut them, frantically almost slipping and falling on the puddles of water already on the linoleum floor. The Charles River looks like Lake Mille Lacs on a stormy day, and cars taking the underpass on Memorial Drive are nearly bottoming out.

Finally satisfied that the windows are closed and everything is as safe as I can make it (guess I don't have to water the plants tonight), I check the weather channel:


Sweet.

Then, because I wanted to document my tree (no shirking violet, a tree that's been here for a long, long time) nearly be bent over 90 degrees, I shot a video on my camera...not that blogger will cooperate and upload it, but I promise it happened.