Okanagan Rain

It was a short but much anticipated trip to Kelowna that brought us to this torrential downpour on the 97C on Sunday afternoon. We could see the angry dark clouds in the hills ahead, and as we rounded a curve, it hit like a hammer. We pulled over to the shoulder of the road as many other drivers did, but some of the more foolhardy ploughed through the several inch deep water that was building on the road surface. A few miles later, we stopped again as a deluge of even greater force poured from the heavens. Like any aberration of nature, it was awesome and a bit scary all at once. We were not in steep terrain so we did not even think about mud slides like we would have had to had we been nearer to Hope.  

Our few days away were punctuated with abnormal weather. Kelowna in July is normally hot and dry, with clear skies and blazing sun. Not so this year. It was warm but muggy with many showers. After a nice dinner out an an outdoor restaurant (the patio was covered), and watching the storm clouds circling the lake, we came back to our host's home and noticed that the light was changing in a dramatic fashion. Don and I, both avid photographers, grabbed our cameras and headed for a nearby lookout to get a sunset photo or two. Just as we started down the street, I turned in the opposite direction and this what I saw. It later turned double, but we were in a hurry to get to the lookout before the light faded so I did not stop to take more photos. This is the only one of the rainbow that I have.  

For the next several minutes, and that is all we had, we turned this way and that, marvelling at the show unfolding before us. The rain started, a misty but heavy rain, and our equipment was going to get wet so we covered it up and headed back down the trail and home.

God paints it, we photograph it.