Rain Storms

We've had a few tremendous rain storms the past week or two. It's amazing how my perspective has changed on violent storms in general. I remember the prolific hail storms we had in the spring of '98 and how much I enjoyed driving about in the surreal white-out. I knew the road would keep going straight for a stretch, figured most potential oncoming traffic would pull over in zero-visibility, and surged ahead a bit above the speed limit. I've always enjoyed violent rainstorms and the energy they send through nature.
Recently, though, when I see the early signs of 80 mph winds shoving trees around, I start to wonder what the cost of the storm will end up being. I get curious about how many trees we'll lose, whether we'll lose power, how long, and how we'll find a way to preserve $100-$200 of food we have in the refrigerator and freezer when the power goes (of course, if a tree falls on the house, that would be egregiously annoying).
Anyway, the last storm we had offered the nifty opportunity for me to enjoy the rain again. I was taking a walk downtown that night (11-ish?) and was just strolling on my way back through the secluded 5th Street route which crosses the park when the skies opened. I happened to be under the railroad bridge, in fact, and tried waiting it out for 15 minutes or so while trains rumbled overhead. It was nice, and there was absolutely no traffic (5th St. floods in a storm anyway). I decided there was no waiting it out and headed on into the rain. It took my awhile to find a decent path back to 7th Street to get home, and I pretty much got soaked from the moment I walked into the rain.
There were a few other pedestrians there, too, and Metro State continued to water its lawn throughout the deluge.
Very nice.