Under An Umbrella In A Downpour At Fosdic Lake Pondering Rush Limbaugh Heaping Praise On President Obama

You are with me under an umbrella, in a downpour, looking at Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park, today around noon.

I rather enjoyed walking in the rain under an umbrella. I've not done that all that often in Texas.  Lightning striking made me a little nervous, but the rumbling thunder was slightly in the distance, so I felt slightly safe.

I have been having myself a wet day today. This morning I said I did not think I'd go swimming. And then the rain went into downpour mode, making it suddenly seem fun to go out in it in my swimming suit to go swimming in the rain.

The pool water was quite a bit warmer than the incoming rain and the temperature of the air. Was very pleasant. Except usually I do not get wet from the neck up. That was not possible today.

When the thunder started booming, as I was walking, and the rain started pouring real hard, I thought taking some video might be interesting. I just uploaded a YouTube video of today's walk in the rain.

But, before I get to that, one very strange thing happened today. I turn on my radio to WBAP/96.7, at a bit past 11, to listen to the opening of the Rush Limbaugh show. This is part of my aerobic routine, because usually I find him annoying, which raises my blood pressure. I think.

I was curious how Rush was going to spin the killing of Bin Laden and somehow make Obama a bad guy.

Well, first off, Rush had the same problem I just had. When I typed Obama, it came out Osama. Over and over again Rush made that mistake and then corrected himself, eventually saying he needed to refer to the guy as Bin Laden and end the problem. And then a few seconds later, made the mistake again.

Here's a blurb from today's Limbaugh email newsletter...

"We need to sincerely congratulate President Obama.  He has done something extremely effective -- and when he does, it needs to be pointed out.  He has continued the Bush policies of keeping a military presence in the Middle East.  He did not scrub the mission to get Osama Bin Laden."  -Rush

The above is a mild version of how effusive Rush was in his praising of Obama. I kept waiting for the sarcastic twist, that never came. Yes, Rush did get in some digs about how many times Obama used the words "I" and "me" in his message from the White House last night.

My reaction to the Osama news was odd. I think because it's been such a long time he's been the world's most wanted man. The news seemed somehow anti-climatic. I'd long gotten over the shock of 9/11. So much has happened since then. A lot of it not good. And now Bin Laden is finally dead.

I'm thinking what happened last night is just the start of a new chapter that may take us to some disturbing new places we don't really want to go.

And now my disturbing video of walking in the rain with lightning strikes...

Texas Downpour Aborted Walk Turns Wet At Town Talk & Then Wetter

I'd intended to go to Oakland Lake Park again, today, to walk around Fosdic Lake, on the way taking a picture of a bizarre billboard that I see on Bridge Street, over and over again.

I'll get to the bizarre billboard later.

When I stopped to take the billboard picture, what had been a few small drops of rain turned into a Texas-size Downpour.

So, I had no choice but abort the plan to walk around Fosdic Lake. Instead I drove through the treacherous downpour to Town Talk.

Last week, when I mentioned Town Talk, former Fort Worth native, now exiled in the Seattle zone, MLK, a fan of Town Talk, asked for some Town Talk pictures.

So, I took a picture of the front of Town Talk looking through my windshield at the downpour. I ran real fast to get into the store. I still got drenched. This made the walk-in cooler cooler than usual.

I got some good Town Talk stuff. Like the giant loaves of Artisan Bread showed up again.

When I left Town Talk it was downpouring harder than when I entered.

I drive slow in a Texas Downpour. You never know when you are going to hit a deep pocket of water.

By the time I got to my abode location it was raining even harder. I felt no alternative was available to me, but to wait it out. Yes, I did have an umbrella with me. But I find those really of little use in a Heavy Downpour.

You are looking at the view through my windshield of the downpour. It was being really loud. That brown thing you see, sort of in the middle of the picture, is my picnic table. As you can see, it is pretty much a lush jungle here. So many people have the erroneous idea that all of Texas is a parched brown desert.

I think I waited maybe 15 minutes for some respite from the downpour. Finally it let up enough to make a mad dash for it. I gathered up my stuff and ran. Fast.

When the sidewalk that leads to my pool came into view I was appalled to see it flooding, making a big muddy mess.

This latest downpour has now let up. As in stopped.

Summer, here in Texas, so far, is being like spring, in Texas, used to be. I'm sort of ready for the climate to change back to the way it used to be.