Couldn't stand the weather

There's a joke in Michigan that if you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes; the same line is used around here with "Martha's Vineyard" in place of Michigan. It's actually an accurate assessment of what goes on in the skies, though. Cloudy or rainy mornings will suddenly give way to abundant sunshine and warm breezes. On the flip side, days that begin beautifully can quickly turn into chilly, windy afternoons, followed by nights of driving rain.

Even before I opened my eyes this morning, I could hear showers outside and the distant rumble of thunder, which doesn't exactly inspire you to leap out of bed and launch yourself into an exciting new day. Once I got up and started working, however, the precipitation stopped and it seemed as if the day was going to be overcast but dry.
But Mother Nature had one of her mood swings. Shortly afterward, the rain came back full-force, splashing down onto the unpaved road in front of the house and turning it into a muddy miniature river. For an encore, the restless skies let loose with grape-sized hail that clattered down the roof and cluttered up the patio. It didn't last long, but it was still enough to put my nerves on edge: I had a car that was severely damaged by hail several years ago, and it ranks as one of my least-favorite weather conditions.
Needless to say, I was greatly relieved to walk outside after the storm and find that the hail had not left so much as a mark on my Prius (the thought of trying to find a body shop around here is a scary concept indeed). When I got in the car to meet my co-workers for lunch in Oak Bluffs, however, I realized that even though the storm had subsided there were still challenges to be dealt with. The roads on the island are narrow and sometimes tricky to travel even at the best of times; cover them with several inches of water, and you've got a mess on your hands.

Getting around downtown Oak Bluffs was like running a watery gauntlet. Puddles had turned into shallow ponds that were too deep to walk through and much too wide to step over. The sidewalk that runs through the park by the beach was partially submerged, forcing me to move onto the grass, which was thoroughly soaked as well. Pedestrians around here regularly walk right alongside cars and trucks, but not today: Anyone who got too close might have been accidentally drenched by a wave of dirty water as a vehicle tried to make its way through the soggy streets. If there's a drainage system in Oak Bluffs, it's not a particularly reliable one.

But within an hour, the sun had abruptly returned, a bit timidly at first and then with more vigor. By the time Scott and I arrived in Vineyard Haven to start our Thursday distribution rounds, it was actually getting warm and I left my coat in the car.

While the water began to dry up, the storm had taken its toll on at least one Vineyard Haven business. The Bunch of Grapes bookstore, which has been open for only a couple of weeks, was forced to shut down for the day when a lightning strike on the building zapped their computers. One year ago, on the Fourth of July, the original Bunch of Grapes store burned to the ground when a fire spread from a neighboring cafe into the bookstore. The owners have rebuilt and have a splashy grand re-opening party planned for Saturday.

"Maybe this time next year, we should all just stay in bed with our covers up over our heads," cracked one of the employees as she explained to a disappointed would-be customer why the store was closed.