Rain.

Wow, did it rain last night.

You'd think I'd be used to rain. After all, fifteen-plus years in Seattle . . .

But this was, as my husband says, a toad-choker.

First the sky turned a sickly grey-green. Then the wind came up in crazy gusts. Then we ran upstairs to close the banging windows and unplug all our precious electronics. Then it started to pour.

We didn't lose electricity, but we did lose our satellite service. So we played Tri-ominos. It's a little bit easier than dominos -- since you don't have to do all that adding in your head. Pretty fun.

Thank goodness da boyz are not at all fazed by thunder and lightning. I have a feeling that, for them, every day here is "Anything Can Happen Day." We get the yeah, whatever reaction from them. Yesterday they came across a 2-inch dead lizard in the dining room. It was good for an intense sniff and then . . . whatever. (I, on the other hand, asked Ross to please deal with it.)

By the way . . . I have gone back and added some photos to a few of my posts. (What is this, Carolyn? A scrapbook?) Anyway, if you're interested, you can go through and peek at them.

And this post is illustrated by a picture of our banana tree. You can see only one of about four bunches. Ross has already made two loaves of excellent banana bread. Did you know that banana trees are actually herbs? So my herb garden is bigger than we thought, isn't it?