It is raining. It is raining quite a bit for this part of the world. Driving conditions were going to get worse as the day progressed so we figured we better do some food shopping in case the ability to get around was eliminated. We ate breakfast with fortified coffee, watched a little morning news and then set off for a Trader Joe’s about 1/2 an hour away in Temecula, CA.
We probably shouldn’t have watched the news because by the time we got to Temecula, it was raining quite hard. All the gutters were overflowing and drivers were engaged in the peculiar and terrifying antics that seem to be a trademark for southern CA whenever there is the slightest deviation from bright sun. Trader Joe’s parking lot was demonstrating the benefits of sheet runoff by soaking everybody’s shoes as they sprinted from their cars to the store.
We bought all the tasty stuff we could bear at Trader Joe’s before wading back to Charlotte and transferring the groceries into the back seat. The rain was so vigorous at this point that all the cardboard boxes surrounding our food got quite damp. We hauled the newly moistened groceries back to the Barbarian Invader and transferred the groceries from Charlotte to the Invader in some more penetrating rain. Quite a few of our boxed goods got to ride the kitchen counter while our two electric heaters attempted to dry them before they go into storage.
According to the news, all the roads in southern CA are filled with tardy motorists awaiting the authorities tasked with towing away drowned cars, removing newly-wrecked cars from the freeway, removing mud from the highways and trying to make the flooded areas dry. They seem to be overwhelmed.