My brother Dave, who has lived in AZ for 30-some years now, has often commented that he thinks the weather forecasters in the Phoenix market just throw a cloud into their five-day forecast photo graphic to make one day look a little different than the other days. A reprieve from sheer boredom.

So when there is actually a weather event, it is a phenomenon. A cause for excitement. A reason for lovers of weather to stand down at the end of their driveways and say things like, “E-yup. I think thar’s somethin’ blowin’ in from the west.” Or maybe, “I ain’t seen this much wind since a tornado blew down the drive-in theater sign when Gone With the Wind was playin’!” Or maybe, “I knew we had some moisture comin’ because the bunion on my left foot was achin’ like crazy.”

(I’m not sure why I think weather-lovers don’t pronounce the Gs at the end of their words.)

Anyhoo, we have had us some kind of weather these past couple of days, and that’s the truth. It started Sunday when I was awakened by the sound of pouring rain. Like the-heavens-had-opened-up rain. The temperature Sunday morning was in the high 40s, so not too chilly. The heavy rain didn’t last long, and the sun came popping out shortly thereafter. A short storm, I thought.

Much to my surprise, however, on and off all day Sunday, those kind of rainstorms would happen. Heavy downpours that lasted maybe 15 minutes, followed by the sun. It didn’t take us long to figure out that we needed to do any outdoor chores during the breaks. RAIN. RAIN STOPS. TAKE THE GARBAGE CAN DOWN TO THE STREET. RAIN. RAIN STOPS. RUN TO THE GROCERY STORE. RAIN. And so on.

At one point Sunday, it hailed. Not Colorado hail that could (and does) damage cars and roofs. Little pearls of hail. But that was the first time I had seen hail in AZ…..

And it was followed literally minutes later by the sun…..

Yesterday was much the same, though it didn’t start until afternoon. Interestingly, at one point what appeared to be snow was coming from the sky. Snow in Phoenix isn’t unheard of. I have even witnessed it myself. But the temperature was 46 at the time, which seemed warm for snow. The snow only lasted a few minutes and nothing stuck, even on the grass.

It seemed to me, however, that it was a good day to bake bread. And so that’s what I did.

My bread baking has vastly improved when I convinced myself to be patient. Yesterday I made French bread for the first time. The bread I made had a softer crust than baguettes, and that was my preference. When my dad had the bakery in Columbus, he made Vienna bread, a loaf that looked much like French bread. I thought about making Vienna loaves, and I found recipes. The bread sounded too sweet for my purpose, which was to have with dinner last night.

The bread turned out perfectly which made me very happy…..

The good news, however, is that this “weather event” is scheduled to be finished by tomorrow. AZ desperately needed the moisture, but it’s nice that we won’t be driving or standing in pouring rain while we wait for Bill’s vaccine.

And by the way, it’s a true story that many years ago, a tornado blew down the sign at the Drive-In Theater, and Gone With the Wind was the featured movie.