Ides of March

Beware the Ides of March.

It started raining on my way home from work, and the wind was blowing something fierce. During dinner, the thunder and lightning started. It was serious lightning, the kind that makes you want to watch a scary movie. Then the power went off. And on. And off again.

When the power returned, E declared it was time to go buy cigarettes. Argh and foo. This week, the university started a ban on selling cigarettes on campus. That means E has to go off campus to buy his smokes, which takes significantly longer. I didn't want him to go, since it was so stormy, but he insisted.

While he was gone, we had a flash hailstorm. It started hailing harder than I've ever seen. Within a few moments, the entire world was white.

Of course, E got caught in the storm on his way home. He tried to run, but he is so out of shape that he was dying when he got home and looks absoltely wretched (in addition to being soaking wet). "You have to stop smoking," I said. For the first time, he said, "Maybe you are right."