Even a Blind Squirrel Finds an Acorn*

As Paul may have mentioned in his blog, it is raining this morning. We have heard predictions of daily rain since before we got here, but haven't seen any. So, finally the reality matches the prediction. One out of six ain't bad.

He left early this morning, to get to the shooting venue. I slept in, since I couldn't get into the venue with him, and there was no point in sitting at the press center when I could be sleeping. And as I posted yesterday, I'm suddenly incredibly tired. So I got up this morning, showered and rushed off to breakfast because they close at a specific time. When I left the room, the ante-room that houses our rooms was humid, as it often is. And then I saw the spots on the ground.

Rain! I was at first rather pleased, then realized I had no umbrella and would probably be quite wet by the time I crossed the grounds to the restaurant. It actually wasn't too bad, and the rain certainly wasn't cold, so it's not like I was going to melt.

Coming from Southern California I have a misguided concept of rain. To me, it clears out the air and cools things down. As I discovered in college in Missouri, this isn't always the case. Here, it's a little bit true. The air is cooler, because there's a slight breeze with the rain. And this time the fog is really fog. (I know this because yesterday there was some blue sky, and something resembling sunshine.)

Last night coming back from the press center there was a little wind, the kind that presages a storm. And the cicadas were out in full force. This, from Missouri, too, makes me think of storms. But it's just a little rain.

*I just read in China Daily, the local English-language newspaper, that the Chinese shot more than 1,100 rockets into the skies over Beijing to ensure rain didn't mar the Opening Ceremonies. "We fired a total of 1,104 rain dispersal rockets from 21 sites in the city between 4 p.m. and 11:39 p.m. on Friday, which prevented a rain belt from moving toward the stadium," Guo Hu, the city's meterological bureau chief said.

Perhaps this is why it was so humid that night? All that rain holed up in the clouds??