...when the weather makes other plans...

Only a smidgeon of it's beauty...

It was a gloriously steamy day in St. Louis, the kind of day that makes it difficult to breathe in. I headed to Forest Park in hopes of claiming a free seat the MUNY's production of Billy Elliott.

Forest Park is so beautiful, that I made a few stops to take some pictures, but still arrived with enough time to wait in line. People are a funny lot. I was standing between some very strange birds, and their entertaining conversations kept my mind off the summer heat.

Almost as soon as I found a seat, I noticed the sky growing darker. Sitting beside me was an extremely tall and handsome black man from New York. In the distance you could see the bright, white flashes reaching down from heaven to touch the ground. He flirted with me, chatting me up, telling me about his life, until I began to tell him about my husband. It was as if I had a new best friend that suddenly deserted me.

It just kept getting darker...and colder

I didn't mind. I set to reading my book, until the wind began to blow. I desperately tried to keep my skirt around my legs as it flung itself high and low, moving with the wind. Everyone laughed as the wind whipped our hair to and fro, but we didn't move for fear we'd lose our seats. And then the rain came. Big, fat, heavy droplets.

The prepared members of the audience, who had brought their umbrellas, stayed planted in their seats, but the rest of us ran for cover. We all pressed ourselves against the back wall, but we couldn't get away from the wind and rain. One girl even cried tornado, though I don't think there was any truth to it.

Only an hour before...

After waiting for 45 minutes, I decided to head home, not so much out of embarrassment for having flashed the crowd, or because I was soaking wet, but mostly because I was shivering so violently and I didn't see the rain ending any time soon.

I found out later that they ended up canceling the performance due to weather.

I don't regret going. In fact, the rough winds were a welcome change from the heat of the day, and I don't think I've laughed as hard in a while.

The more I venture outside of my comfort zone, the more comfortable I become with these scenarios, because they're much more common than I ever realized. In my mind, they have become their own mini adventures...