Don't like the weather? Wait a few minutes.

It's monsoon season here in the Land of the Pouring Rain - er, Rising Sun. That means that the weather changes rapidly. Very rapidly.

Take this afternoon, for example. Here is the view from my desk at 1:45 pm:
At shortly after 2:00, clouds are getting darker...
Two minutes later, they're getting a lot darker...
And within minutes, rain...(I should add, at this point, that it's about 85-90 degrees out right now, so this isn't just rain, it's hot rain)...

A few minutes later, downpour:
Ten minutes later, it's still cloudy, the pavement is still wet and steaming, but the rain has stopped and the sun is coming out. I give it another hour before it's dumping again.

I know. Terribly fascinating. But now you see why we haven't been out and about as much as we usually are. I rather like the rain, personally, but the roads here are made of coral (slicker than snot when it rains) and our hoopty ride is having issues with its brakes. Not fun to be sliding around on a coral road with faulty stopping parts.

The lightning here is wicked cool, too. Last night, it was purple. Seriously. Hopefully I'll get my camera and shutter remote on speaking terms soon, then I can set up the tripod and try to get some lightning pics.

Oh, and I'm not the only one who finds the weather mood swings fascinating:
So that's the latest here in Okinawa. Pouring down rain, hotter than the eighth circle of hell, and lots of thunder and lightning.

GOD I LOVE IT HERE.