well, that was unexpected

Yesterday, like virtually every other day of a Texas summer, was sunny and hot. We spent the morning working outside until just before we passed out (which was about 11:00 a.m.). Drenched with sweat and heat-addled, we came inside for the day. On a day like that, we keep things closed up. All the shades down, the insulating, room-darkening curtains drawn. No sunlight should peek through anywhere. After all these years I really can't say whether that tactic really works to keep the house cooler, but it certainly does create a nice illusion. We sat in our cool, dark cave of a house all afternoon, enjoying the quiet, when out of nowhere came the sound of rattling. It was as though a dump truck full of gravel was suddenly dumped onto our house from above. We both jumped up in surprise and looked out the window. Rain! And a lot of it! No slow and steady buildup. No gradual darkening of the skies. It was just...there. And then it wasn't. Just like that. In the time it took to walk out and roll up the truck windows, it was done.