When it rains, it . . . FLOODS!

Where I come from, a moving body of water does not have to be a mile wide to be considered a river. So, when I was driving to work in a downpour yesterday, and the water was flowing down the streets of downtown Springfield, I was understandably a little nervous! I have never driven in that much water before. It was really raining hard! I called Greg and told him that there were several inches of water on the road, and he said, "Oh, that's normal." :-) So I took a picture to show that there's nothing normal about it! You can even see the police cars pulling up. They soon closed down the roads because the water was getting kind of dangerous. But then a few hours later, the sun came out and literally dried up all the rain. It was so weird--all of a sudden it was a beautiful day with no sign left of the morning's torrential downpour. I'll never understand the weather here.

I especially enjoyed yesterday afternoon because my favorite Illinois family--the Stowells--came by the Great Western Depot for a visit! It was so fun to see them. Unfortunately not all of the Stowells got to come to Springfield, but it was really fun to see Savannah, Sam, Spencer, Sadie, and Brother Stowell (we're glad your leg is feeling better!).

Today it was sooooo hot here. Well, the temperature wasn't terribly bad--just 90 or so--but there had to have been 120% humidity. So it felt much warmer than it really was. We rangers all thought we were going to melt, but luckily we all survived the day. Poor Uncle Greggy Greg (as the Barrett girls call him) fell about 20 feet off of a ladder at work today. He is quite bruised and sore this evening, but thankfully he is all right! Last night he made some really delicious breaded chicken using pancake batter. I think it was some of the best chicken I've ever eaten!