If the rain comes, they run and hide their heads

Thursday's rain, which was falling at the rate of two inches per hour at several points, served the function of replenishing wells and reservoirs, and it also provided a good reason for those many drivers who do not drive until there is a big weather event to get in the Biscayne and head out on the highway.

Of course, still being home and on the mend, all I see of traffic is what I see on the tv news reports.  And that reminds me - is there anyone who is watching the tv news while they drive? Why, then, do tv stations put traffic reports on the news, he wondered.  But I see the reports and the "traffic cam" pictures from all over town and there are far too many people out driving.  The roads are all jammed up.

It seems that every kid must be chauffered directly to the front door of the school.  It's a wonder they don't install a doorway for worried parents to drive right INTO the school building and drop Junior or Sis right off at their homeroom!  Meanwhile, empty school buses add to the traffic jams.  There can't be but one or two kids whose parents let them ride the big yellow bus.  Everyone else piles into the SUV, stuffing Eggos down their neck as Mom plies her way through traffic.

And there are those who are unwilling to drive in the rain.  This is because for the last twenty years or so, people have become conditioned to a stark fear of driving in the SNOW, and since rain is snow's bastard second cousin, the fear carries over.  I actually heard a tv traffic person, one morning when a passing shower had dampened the macadam, say that the roads were "very slick!"  Just putting water on a blacktopped road does not make it slick.  Try this simple test: walk down that wet street.  If you get two blocks away without falling on your keister, it should be safe to drive.  But since you're walking, keep a-goin'!

And then we have the knuckleheads who drive around posted barriers so as to test the buoyancy of their vehicles.  Police and Public Works people are out there putting up barricade signs to keep people from driving into flooded areas, but you always have people who say, "Hey, no problemo - I got four-wheel drive" which is good to know when the tow truck comes to tow all four of your wheels out of the four feet of water you THOUGHT you could drive through to get to the Stop 'n' Pay.

And just think - it's only October!  Winter is still ahead!