Diluvio

Do You have a favorite word? If I had to chose one, It would be this.

“Dilúvio, noun[ masculine ] /ʤi’luvɪʊ/ torrental rain, deluge”
dictionary

I like the sound of it “Di-lú-vio”, and I like the weather that it represents. If it rains, it must rain hard, not some good-to-nothing drizzle that can last days in a row. I like the power of nature, it makes me feel so small, and at the same time, it causes my adrenalin to rise. And if possible, I like this to be accompanied with a thunderstorm, a real ‘electric storm’ with lightning and loud thunderclaps.

I have always loved some drama.

In the past, this is rain that regularly ocured in Buenos Aires, but the last couple of years it’s been exceptionally dry, and they became less common than before.

I have this app, Buienalarm, that is amazingly correct in announcing rain. If I get an alert ‘heavy rain expected in 15 minutes’, I know I have to run for cover. It is always correct, at least it is in Europe.

This morning, when I woke up, even though the sun was still out I could just feel the rain in the air. It’s not particularly hot, but very sultry. According to my app, ‘very heavy rain’ is expected at 11 am. I have never seen the curve so high ; rain in Belgium usually isn’t that intense. I still have some time, I go for a walk before the storm is supposed to arrive. I intend to be back before the downpour, but well, this is Argentina, not Europe, and I am not sure the app is 100% correct here, so I take an umbrella, just in case.

I walk, without a purpose and without a goal, I just walk. I enjoy the streets of BA, its buildings, its people, its little shops, its traffic. Here you can be alone in the crowd. Even though the sun is shining, I can see dark clouds coming from all sides. I regularly check my app, and the predictions remain the same. The wind blows in my hair and my dress, the temperature is perfect, nice and warm but not too warm, I Iisten to some music, I sing along, and I walk. I am loving this.

Ahead of the predictions it starts to drip. Funnily, everyone speeds up his pace, everyone in summer clothes, no rain coats (too warm for that), some people carry an umbrella. People walk faster and faster, so do I. Taxis are still empty, that will change as soon as the downpour starts : in no time they will all be full and people will wait, in vain, soon soaking wet, for an empty one to stop. Even if there is an empty one : they won’t take soaking wet people.

I also make haste, I look up at the clouds before I enter my house and I seriously doubt my app. Nah, nothing is going to happen. It’s a false alarm, I am sure now. It’s 10:54. I go inside, open the windows to get the heat out, and all of a sudden, out of the blue, it starts to poor, there is lightning, there is a very loud thunder. A thunder that sounds a lot louder and rumbles a lot longer than in any other place that I know; it echos and rolls and vibrates through the buildings of this magnificent, vibrant, metropole. I hear it and I feel it.

I love it.

It’s vibrates power, power bigger than anything else I know. I feel small. I feel exhilarated. This is fun!