I awoke before my alarm, to the sound of distant thunder. I looked around the room, and saw sunlight streaming in the same as any other morning. I got out of bed (shutting off the alarm so it didn’t wake my wife) and went over to the window to see what was going on. The sun was shining brightly, but I could see off in the distance a band of clouds that I surmised was the source of the thunder. The line was far to the south, so I assumed it had already passed by our neighborhood, but when I checked the radar I saw one single blob hovering over both of our downtown areas.

I didn’t think much of it and got ready for work, noticing that in fact we hadn’t received any rain at all. As I drove towards the interstate I saw the most amazing clouds, towering and lumpy. They moved ahead of me faster than morning traffic, and by the time I reached downtown St. Paul there was nothing left but wet sidewalks. I walked into my office and discovered one of my co-workers soaking wet, waiting for his wife to bring him a change of clothes. In contrast, my entire commute never saw a single drop.

I know it rained later in the day across the metro, but this morning it was amazing to see how local some weather can be. I really have no agenda or purpose in sharing all of this, beyond just wanting to document something that caught my attention and made my morning slightly more interesting than normal. I think capturing moments like this are important, even if it’s only in our mind. Remembering the uniqueness of a simple commute to the office, with no other reason that to remember it.