You know those moments when you realize your priorities might be a little... off?
Mine happened in a parking lot.
I had just finished yoga and decided to surprise Reese by stopping at a new Italian restaurant near the studio. She'd been craving linguine with white clam sauce for days, so I figured I'd bring home dinner.
Simple enough.
While I waited for the food, I saw lightning.
Then thunder.
Then rain.
Then all the rain.
By the time my order was ready, the sky had turned into what can only be described as an aggressive car wash.
The restaurant handed me my food in a paper bag.
A paper bag.
At that moment, I knew two things.
First, I was going to get soaked.
Second, that bag wasn't going to survive without help.
So instead of protecting myself, I cradled the bag like it contained the last surviving bowl of pasta on Earth.
The second I turned the corner to get to my car, the weather shifted from "heavy rain" to "biblical punishment."
The rain wasn't falling anymore.
It was attacking.
My prescription sunglasses immediately became useless. My leather slip-on shoes tried to abandon me. Water was rushing down the street, and I was squeezing my toes just to keep my shoes attached to my feet while carrying this increasingly fragile paper bag toward the car.
I must have looked completely ridiculous.
Somehow, I made it.
I got the food into the car without destroying dinner, even though everything else, including me, was completely drenched.
Victory.
Or so I thought.
The drive home turned into its own adventure.
Roads were flooding. Cars were stopping in standing water. At one point I found myself creeping through what looked less like a street and more like a small lake, hoping my car wouldn't stall in the middle of it.
It didn't.
But my car did decide to drag part of its undercarriage home with me.
Apparently flash floods and low-clearance cars aren't the best combination.
By the time I pulled into the driveway, Reese was waiting with a towel because I'd already called to warn her about the situation.
Her first words weren't, "Are you okay?"
They were...
"It smells like something's burning."
She wasn't wrong.
Fortunately, it turned out to be the wet on hot car parts and not the entire vehicle bursting into flames.
The important thing?
The linguine survived.
And honestly, that's the part of the story Reese remembers most.
A Few Things I Learned
If you ever find yourself driving during a flash flood or severe thunderstorm, here's what I'd recommend:
Don't assume you'll make it through standing water just because another car did.
If you can wait out the storm, wait.
Paper bags and torrential rain are natural enemies.
Leather slip-on shoes are not emergency footwear.
If you're going to risk life and limb for takeout, make sure it's really good takeout.
Would I do it again?
Probably not.
Then again...
Reese has already mentioned she's craving that linguine again.
Featured Cocktail: Black Velvet
