The Equinox
For some reason, when JM and I used to come to France for visits, our trips had a tendency to coincide with either the Spring or Autumn equinox. Whenever we would have bad weather, JM's dad would say, "Well, what do you expect? It's the equinox." It has always cracked us up and has become a bit of a family joke.
This past weekend was the dreaded Autumnal Equinox. And, although I do like to laugh at my FIL's ability to find a dark lining in every silver cloud, perhaps he knows something about this.
Last week was mostly lovely, until Friday when it got windy and unpleasant looking. Saturday, because it was market day, was cold and rainy. Yesterday seemed a bit overcast in the morning, but then the sun came out and it got quite warm and wonderful.
We were having lunch with friends Philippe and Bernadette in Pamiers. We were joined by a couple of other writers, one couple of which now lives in New Caledonia. We all had a wonderful time, including a delicious lunch and aperatifs in the garden. It was sunny, warm and beautiful.
About 3/4s of the way through lunch, Bernadette and son Michael ran out to bring whatever remained in the garden back into the house, as it started to cloud over. But, 20 minutes later the sun was back and all was right with the world.
Somewhere around 5 pm, we decided to gather up Maggie and head back to the Possum Kingdom. As we got in the car we laughed about having taken our jackets in case it was cold, because by that point it was really quite warm and summery.
Now, Pamiers is about 30 miles away from Chalabre. As we drove, we noticed the sky in our direction was looking a bit ominous and as we hit Besset, just north of Mirepoix we drove straight into a curtain of rain.
It was one of those amazingly weird weather things that happen occasionally; we were still in bright sunlight, but the rain was pouring down. As we drove, we headed in and out of the sun, but the rain continued. At a few points, it was so heavy that poor Beanie's windshield wipers (luckily replaced last week by M. Hervas!!!) were just unable to cope. I came close to stopping on the side of the road because there was simply no visibility whatsoever.
When we turned at "The Prancing Tractor" on the outskirts of La Bastide de Bousignac, which is the far edge of the Possum Kingdom, I felt as if I was hydroplaning on the road, which had a deep layer of water over most of its surface.
We seemed to be driving in and out of the worst of the rain, although I think we were outpacing the storm at certain points, but it kept catching up to us. Then, as we got to Sonnac, massive claps of thunder were practically shaking the car. Normally, Maggie is not afraid of thunder when she's in the car, but this was really too much for her. She tried to dig down under the floorboards, poor girl!
As we hit Chalabre there was a loud bang as something hit the roof. I thought it was a chestnut being blown by the wind. But as more of them hit we soon realized it was hail! The road was covered in it, making everything a bit slippery.
We got home, unlocked the door, got inside, and as suddenly as it had all started, the storm was over.
The equinox reigns supreme!
Ciao for now.
Randy
This past weekend was the dreaded Autumnal Equinox. And, although I do like to laugh at my FIL's ability to find a dark lining in every silver cloud, perhaps he knows something about this.
Last week was mostly lovely, until Friday when it got windy and unpleasant looking. Saturday, because it was market day, was cold and rainy. Yesterday seemed a bit overcast in the morning, but then the sun came out and it got quite warm and wonderful.
We were having lunch with friends Philippe and Bernadette in Pamiers. We were joined by a couple of other writers, one couple of which now lives in New Caledonia. We all had a wonderful time, including a delicious lunch and aperatifs in the garden. It was sunny, warm and beautiful.
About 3/4s of the way through lunch, Bernadette and son Michael ran out to bring whatever remained in the garden back into the house, as it started to cloud over. But, 20 minutes later the sun was back and all was right with the world.
Somewhere around 5 pm, we decided to gather up Maggie and head back to the Possum Kingdom. As we got in the car we laughed about having taken our jackets in case it was cold, because by that point it was really quite warm and summery.
Now, Pamiers is about 30 miles away from Chalabre. As we drove, we noticed the sky in our direction was looking a bit ominous and as we hit Besset, just north of Mirepoix we drove straight into a curtain of rain.
It was one of those amazingly weird weather things that happen occasionally; we were still in bright sunlight, but the rain was pouring down. As we drove, we headed in and out of the sun, but the rain continued. At a few points, it was so heavy that poor Beanie's windshield wipers (luckily replaced last week by M. Hervas!!!) were just unable to cope. I came close to stopping on the side of the road because there was simply no visibility whatsoever.
When we turned at "The Prancing Tractor" on the outskirts of La Bastide de Bousignac, which is the far edge of the Possum Kingdom, I felt as if I was hydroplaning on the road, which had a deep layer of water over most of its surface.
We seemed to be driving in and out of the worst of the rain, although I think we were outpacing the storm at certain points, but it kept catching up to us. Then, as we got to Sonnac, massive claps of thunder were practically shaking the car. Normally, Maggie is not afraid of thunder when she's in the car, but this was really too much for her. She tried to dig down under the floorboards, poor girl!
As we hit Chalabre there was a loud bang as something hit the roof. I thought it was a chestnut being blown by the wind. But as more of them hit we soon realized it was hail! The road was covered in it, making everything a bit slippery.
We got home, unlocked the door, got inside, and as suddenly as it had all started, the storm was over.
The equinox reigns supreme!
Ciao for now.
Randy
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