In Which I Feel Lucky To Be Alive

Radar image after I got home. It looked better when I left work, really, it did.

The first cycle of the newspaper this year. I’m alone in the Times office at 9 p.m., wondering where the student editors are.

And it rumbles. There is a window in the Times office, which might not have done much for my peace of mind. Well, if it’s going to storm, I thought, I’m not going to get in any hurry. No point in rushing out into it—thunderstorms usually roll through quickly.

So I worked until past 10:30 p.m., then headed over to my office to grab some files to take home.

I met the night janitor, who wondered if I had ever worked on a movie. Apparently, there is a “Joe Sheller” who has. Not me. I grabbed my files and checked the radar. I looked to me like most of the storm had headed off east. It was damp, but not raining as I paused outside of the loading dock of Warde Hall to turn on all my lights.

I didn’t think it was necessary, but I had my rain poncho on.

What the sky looked like during the second half of my ride home.. Except there was no US Capitol in view.
U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Cherie A. Thurlby, from Wikicommons.

Photo from the Chicago Acting Studio. Molly Glynn.

It was necessary. About 10 minutes after I left campus, I started to see lightning light up the sky in the north—the direction I was heading. They say there are no atheists in foxholes. There aren’t many near midnight when lightning starts to arch across the sky, either.

As I go near Kenwood School, the lightning crept ominously closer and the rain started to come down hard. Yes, the rain poncho helped, although my pants and legs were quickly soaked. My shoes go very wet.

I took home a quiz to grade for a morning class. I got it done, but sorry students, it’s a bit damp, too.

Anyway, I don’t usually ride my bike in the rain. Tonight it caught me. I guess I’m lucky—this weekend, Chicago actress Molly Glynn was killed by a falling tree while she was out on a bike ride.

OK, so maybe having a damp quiz isn’t such a bad thing, after all.