Hail and Rain

This evening, it hailed the size of mothballs.

The first few pebbles of hail rained down as I was waiting for the bus, having decided it was a better idea to wait 15 minutes for the bus than to walk in the drizzle for the same amount of time. When I realised it was hailing, I decided to hop into the next bus and get off at Oxford Street opposite the college. In the 3 minutes the bus took to get to my destination, the drizzle had become a heavy downpour, with hail coming down steadily with the rain. The bus deposited me conveniently along a row of shops, I took shelter as best as I could. And waited. Surely the rain and hail would stop - in due course. I had 1.5 hours till my lecture so I had time to wait the inclement weather out.

I edged nearer to the shops, away from the kerb, rain water started to gush like a stream by the side of the kerb. After 10 minutes of plastering myself to the shop windows, a car that had veered close to the kerb and at speed, splashed me. Good thing I had my lilac waterproof coat and my new high boots on, they kept me relatively dry. The gay baker from the fancy custom-made cake shop came out of his shop, gorgeous baking smells wafted out as he opened his door. He smiled at me and kindly advised that I should try to stand further inside so as to avoid getting splashed again. His kindness didn't extend to an offer of shelter inside his shop unfortunately.

So I moved 2 doors down and spotted the recessed side entrance of The Fringe Bar, which didn't appear to be in use. Sanctuary at last. I huddled in the alcove for another 20 minutes, patiently waiting for a chance to get across the road and walk the 200 metres to college without being completely drenched and catching a cold, just after having recovered from bronchitis (with just a night cough lingering). My patience paid off, and I quickly nipped across the road as the downpour turned into a light drizzle. It was a pretty interesting 30 minute experience, just standing and observing the sudden changes that Mother Nature throws up every once in a while.