ridiculous weather

I am definitely not one to look at happenings in the world around me and declare that the end of the world is at hand. Many people see the end of the world in the serious weather happenings (Asian tsunamis, devastating hurricanes in the southern US, earthquakes in the Middle East, etc) as signs that the End is near. I try not to get caught up in that, since Jesus said that even He did not know the day or the hour. However, when things like severe thunderstorm warnings are issued for the area in which I live--with tornado warnings about half an hour north of us--I do sometimes wonder. Yes, you did read that correctly...there was a tornado warning in southern NH earlier today. That almost never happens here in New England. Even now as I sit here typing, there is a ridiculous amount of crashing thunder and pouring rain outside of my window. People always say to me, "You're from Seattle, you must be used to rain like this." Well, let me tell you, people, it does NOT rain like this in Seattle. Back home I use a rain coat (sometimes), and don't mind if I'm wearing long pants that touch the ground. Unless you're walking a long distance, you usually don't get too wet. I didn't even own an umbrella for the last few years that I was in WA. Here...well, rain is completely different. I make sure that I always know where my umbrella is. When going outside, I zip up my raincoat, hike up my pant legs, and run as quickly as possible to my destination. Despite these measures, I'm often soaking wet after running even the shortest distance. Yuck. All this to say...I'm still not sure that I like the weather out here. Mostly I pine for the beauty and mildness of the PNW. Oh home... And to think, in less than a month I will be camping in the beauty of it all. Hooray! Let's just pray that the tornados and whatnot really aren't the signal of the end times...otherwise no camping for me.

May you all know the beauty of the Pacific NW, and stay dry even when the thunder rolls outside your window.