ESPECIALLY STINKBUGS.          -The Simpsons

Well, most of Johnson County is currently underwater. If you haven't seen any news blurb about it, we had approximately 10 in. of rain last night. Compound that with the apocalyptic thunderstorms we've been having all week, and that amounts to a shit ton of water. Parts of US 31, I-65, I-465, and I-70 are all under currents of rainwater. The flooding stretches from the south side of Indy all the way out to Terre Haute. As usual, I was sleeping in the RV last night, but I was continually awakened by the rain and thunder. Outside my window, there were four tremendous, simultaneous bolts of lightning that lit up the dark countryside, and the thunderclap cracked, rumbled, and shook my ribcage. Thanks to this entire week, I have developed a phobia of night twisters sweeping me away in my big steel box of death, so I headed down to the basement at about 6:30 for peace of mind. We have these tall windows down there outside of which are semicircular stone wells about 6 ft. deep. They all had about 8 in. of water in them; they looked like little aquariums.

Media coverage on the local channels is absolute. They keep showing helicopter video of idiots driving through 2 ft. of water in their trucks, and the reporters are commentating: "You see that guy? He's stupid. Don't do that." They can't even see the road and are just using telephone poles as guide markers. So yeah, no one's supposed to drive around, so we're pretty much shut in. The National Guard has been deployed in some areas while civil services try to get control of the situation. Some nearby dams are under stress and may burst, which would only exacerbate the problem of course. Luckily for us, the flooding in our immediate area isn't that bad, even though we appear to be right in the middle of it.

Like I said, this is just one more movement in the meteorological symphony that has been this week. My brother and I had to evacuate the RV earlier this week when a sweeping gust came across the plain and violently shook us. Trees were bent over at least 30 degrees, and my poor dog was trembling like a leaf. I opened the door, and it slammed hard against the outside as the wind caught it. We ran for it and watched the ensuing monsoon come down from inside our incomplete house.

It's funny because I was just reminiscing the other day about the total lack of awesome summer weather in California during my Stanford internship. They don't know what they're missing. It's calm and sunny right now of course, one of Mother Nature's favorite practical jokes in this region to lure us into a false sense of security. They're saying we may be hit again tonight. Rest assured though, I'll be drinking a beer on our porch while listening to "Rock You Like a Hurricane."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB8HudfbaTE