Lynn Lawler's Creative Artists' Blog

It was raining cats and dogs last Sunday afternoon. SoCal has been in a drought for nearly four years and we’re finally getting dumped on this year. We were itching to get out so we went to visit a friend, who lives forty miles away.

Our friend needed to run an errand so we all got into the Jeep and went for a drive in the rain. We noticed flooding all over the place, including cars parked on the main road halfway underwater. Each detour road was blocked. I have only seen scenes like this in pictures.

On the way back to her place, we took the freeway, which was fine for about a mile then traffic came to a standstill. Desperate people drove up the embankment to exit the jammed road. I have never seen anything like this in my life and I grew up in the Midwest where it rains a lot.

This was so bizarre. Never did I think I would be caught in a flash flood with rain pelting my Jeep. As we sit there patiently, it was really tempting for us to put the Jeep into four wheel drive and drive up the embankment with the others. I’m glad we didn’t because the risk isn’t worth it.

At the same time, I can’t complain. I was with two great people, my wife and our trusted friend. We took the situation lightly by staying positive and not panicking. We enjoyed a few laughs and talked about the King of Queens episode where Kevin James and Ray Romano went golfing in weather just like this.

As I was sitting in the backseat, I allowed myself to feel gratitude. I have wanted it to rain for so long and now we have an abundance. It feels good knowing that all of the greenery is being watered. I thank Creator for providing rain for us.

We have a special tree in our backyard that is really benefiting from the extra rain. It is a Norwegian pine tree that my wife has had since it was a baby. It has been to various places, but now it’s permanent home in the backyard and is flourishing. Our other plants are now established, so this will help them grow more.  I enjoy rainy days. I get to go out to my covered patio with a cup of coffee and sit there and watch the droplets fall.   It is so peaceful to hear it’s soothing sounds. And the smell of fresh light rain, that’s the best. When I was younger I used to think that I was going to melt if I get went out in the rain. Now it just pelts on me and rolls right off my back.

We continued to sit in the standstill. We witnessed a couple of cars driving backwards and a lot of cars driving on the shoulder of the road. It felt like we were in the middle of an a evacuation. In the below picture, a truck drove over the median to illegally exit the freeway.  I’m so glad no one was honking either. It is so aggravating to have to put up with angry blasts, most which are not for an emergency.

In church on Sunday they spoke about taking rests. I believe that our adventure on the I-710 was a big one for us. Sometimes the Universe or God creates them to force us to be with ourselves. This was a trial for all three of us. Although we know each other well, we had to be observant of everyone’s emotions. I kept reciting the prayer that we say each week, “God is the love that I am.” This really helped because previously this experience would have been frustrating. That day, I sensed no danger and was in the moment the entire time.

Over two hours had elapsed and we were still inching along, the rain never let up. They closed off the road at the next exit and we had to get off. It was a madhouse. Once again some people were driving aggressively. As we were exiting, we looked over and saw that up ahead the freeway was flooded. Fire trucks were everywhere.

Finally we made it off the freeway and took our friend home. Thankfully, we encountered no problems on the way home. It felt so good to pull into our driveway.

Until next time,

Lynn