Yesterday was a rain day. When you are camping in a small tent, wind and rain strike fear into your heart. My neighbors in the land cruiser motor homes barely notice. All they have to do is just turn up the volume a little on their big screen televisions. The greatest concern, of course, is getting your bedding and clothes wet. If that occurs, your plan B is usually to buy dry clothing at Walmart and cast about for a motel room.
This time, the rain hit about noon. Typical thunderstorm, hot as blazes, a sporty gust front and then came the fire hose and the electrical display. Being a seasoned Fly-In soldier, I hit the commercial buildings just as the first drops began to fall. I lingered in Building D, pining over the Garmin displays, until it was time to move. Luckily, I had my trusty umbrella, far superior to a rain coat or the 2-mil throwaway ponchos others were using. Making my way around Buildings C, B then A, I finished my tour in the sheltered food court. After a leisurely lunch, the rain was mostly gone and all I had to do was circumnavigate the puddles left behind.
My buddies, Bill Bell, Billy Stewart and John Morgan, spent their rain time in the museum, which has an interesting display of Howard Hughes memorabilia. Others spend time at indoor forums or workshops. I was in an electrical workshop in 2011 when a tornado hit Drane field. We were safely ensconced in a cinder block building with a metal garage door. When the wind and rain whipped up, they closed the metal door. It sounded like a thousand ball peen hammers were thrashing the door. Fifteen minutes later it was all over. We opened the door to a war-torn landscape. Scores of beautiful airplanes where crumpled in balls and strewn around as if a giant had thrown dice. Thankfully, no one was killed or seriously injured.
On this day, my only injury was wet socks. This is Florida. Today it is sunny.
