Half way to Noah

Today marked the 20th straight day of recorded rainfall here in Oklahoma.

Last month saw record rainfall amounts and topped the charts as the wettest June in the history of the state.

My father is obsessed with weather.

Our weather, not his weather.

He retired to a city..."blessed with one of the mildest climates in the United States, dubbed by USA Today as having the second best climate in the country. The reasons include:
* A mean high of 75° in July and 64° in January
* Less than 11 inches of rain every year
* Among the fewest heating and cooling degree days in the U.S."And boy, is he cocky about it.

On a weekly basis, he'll chime in via email or land line (no cell phone in my old man's future -- and he still uses dial up net access), ranting about the high (or low) temps, extreme (or total lack thereof) humidity, rain or snowfall levels, winds, hail diameter size, tornadoes that have touched down, fire, brimstone, and the latest plagues of locusts that have descended upon us poor Okies -- all the while raving about the weather outside his Oceanside bay windows.

My wife claimed that I too was guilty of being a California weather whoremonger, taking PERSONAL credit and responsibility for the extremely fine climatic conditions that befall the southern portions of the Golden State on a regular basis.

I called it a purely So Cal characteristic, inbred into most 3rd and 4th generation Los Angeleno's.

She called it annoying.

But now, having lived in an area that actually HAS weather, I'm more in touch with it on a daily basis, much more appreciative when it's pleasant, and much, much more in awe of it when it stands up, rolls over, plays fetch, and does other tricks previously unseen by my west coast eyes.

20 straight days of rain, looking for a blackjack tomorrow.

Glub, freakin' glub.