Normal is boring.
We had a few of these moments on this course. Well, every day really, but there was one in particular that I would categorize as an experience that "rocked."
We had just finished solo with our little ones and headed out to the Intercoastal Waterway for the second half of course. It was a sunny day, just like every other one we experienced out there. And then like clockwork, the clouds began to roll in.
Bri cooking hotdogs as the storm develops some teeth behind her.
The storm was clearly north of us, so we watched the clouds and felt grateful that we weren't in the other patrol as they were getting slammed by the storm. The following pictures are from their perspective, courtesy of Stephanie Marnocha.
We incorrectly assumed the storm would miss us. Right as dinner was done, the rain started, but the lighting and thunder was still far enough away that we could sit out and eat the hotdogs before they got too soggy. Then we got hit with the full brunt of the storm.
We put the boys in the tents to keep them warm and dry as this one was going to be a DOOZY. I didn't want instructors anywhere near each other because I felt certain our little island oasis was going to be struck that night. And so we spread out, one in the tent, the other two around camp. I sat out in the pouring rain, atop my gear bag and ensolite pad, watching lightning strike all around us, with 0 counts happening all over the place. I couldn't help but smile. The rain had an unbelievable cooling effect and sitting out there...well, there was nothing we could do except sit and wait it out. It was kind of nice.
Once the lightning got out of range, Aaron and I grabbed handfuls of hotdogs (the buns and baked beans were beyond ruined) and ran around camp to give them to the boys through tiny tent openings. We would later find out that our co-horts up north were doing the exact same thing. I asked the boys if they were okay and they were happy as clams, warm in their tents.
Aaron and I had to stake down one of the tents in all four corners as it almost blew away with the boys in it. We got it secured just in time for the next round of lighting to swing back around and went back into another lighting drill for another 30 minutes.
After that it was done done. Aaron and I stripped off the soaking rain gear and changed into dry clothes as the stars came out and the crickets and frogs started making a racket again. Btw, you can always tell the rain is coming because the frogs start making noise. It was nice and cool and we lit tiki torches to resume reading "Percy Jackson" to the boys. Business as normal.
After it had passed, it was like nothing happened. Everything was pretty wet, but as it is August in Florida, we knew it would be dry in about 12 hours. So it really was just another storm and just another night out in the field.
But it sure was awesome to experience.
