Part of the joy of living in a small town is that weather events are news. Sometimes MAJOR news.

I knew we were in for a fun one when I could finally no longer sleep with the high decibel thunderclaps that filled the sky at 4:00 in the morning. I walked out to see the rain falling with such ferocity that you could barely see 100 feet. No wind to speak of, no hail, just a solid, pouring torrent of water that rolled down our (ahem) lawn (In this part of Texas, growing lawns seems a luxury for the rich). As the rain continued, I was thankful that I live high up on the hill.

I headed out the front door to find two of our kittens clinging to a chair on the porch. I held the door open, but they wanted nothing to do with the water down below. So, I knew what I had to do and dreaded it at the same time. I waded (yes, waded...about three inches of water on the porch by this time) out to them and brought them in, wincing as they instinctively dug their claws in my arm to hold on.

I went out to the car to check out the damage downtown (and downhill), to see if anyone needed my help. I waded again through the torrent of water that was rushing down the road, having some inkling of what to expect since where I was going was where the water was rushing TO.

I made it to just north of the fire station. The water was up to the curb, and, me not having a truck, I was not ABOUT to attempt the crossing. Leave that to the other firefighters; they have 4 wheel drive and high clearance vehicles. I don't.

I headed back home, bottoming out on the washed out part of the road as I crossed over to my usual parking place. I sat and listened to the radio traffic, listening in case I would be needed (I'd have to tell 'em to load my gear in the truck and come pick me up since I couldn't get down there myself). All in all, the heavy rain fell for over an hour, and I soon returned to sleep. Unfortunately, I had to get up early in the morning, so I am typing this on a caffeine induced high (and put forth a remarkably poor performance in today's trivia tournament).

In any other area, this probably wouldn't be news. But here? I expect a front page story with a 30 point font!