$7.99 Rain Ponchos, Texting, and Making Memories

About 4:00 yesterday afternoon I flipped on the TV and was greeted with the always exciting news of a tornado watch. My first thought: Awesome. Normally tornado watches don’t bother me too much – after all this is Kansas City – but Mark and I had tickets to an outdoor concert last night. Compounding the tornado threat was the forecast prediction of 3-5 inches of heavy rain. Awesome again.

Since the tickets were part of Mark’s year-long 50th birthday celebration (!) and for a couple of his all-time favorite bands, the Doobie Brothers and Chicago, there was no way in you-know-where we weren’t going. Being the always prepared and industrious person that I am, I ran to Target and purchased two $7.99 rain ponchos, and at the appointed time we loaded up the car with the new ponchos and umbrellas and headed out. Of course, we took the trusty Lancer in case of hail – wouldn’t want to damage the pretty Passat.

With threatening skies and a few lightning flashes we watched the first act (a cheesy one-man Il Divo ripoff lounge lizard type – what a waste!) and settled in for the Doobie Brothers set. Sidebar: I’ve never been a huge fan of the band, but they are incredible musicians – they were pretty much flawless. About halfway through their set, I began receiving texts from Aimee and Jessica: tornado warnings in Johnson County and two small touchdowns at the airport. Now we had a trifecta of weather awesomeness.

We managed to stay dry, texting for weather updates all the while, until the very close of the Doobie Brothers set – then the heavens opened, the new rain ponchos came out of their bags and onto our bodies, and the concert was put “on hold” while we and 3,000 of our closest friends huddled under the small pavilions at the amphitheater’s side.

After about 50 minutes of waiting, we noticed activity on the stage. Although it was still pouring, the show evidently would go on. When the music began, Mark and I stayed under the pavilion like weenies, but finally we said “what the heck – it’s only water” and ventured back into seats.

It wasn’t just the music that transported us backward in time last night. For about an hour we were kids – it didn’t matter that it was wet, cold, and uncomfortable…to say nothing of the fashion statement our rain ponchos made. I will always treasure the memory of singing “You Are The Love of My Life” and “Saturday in the Park” at the top of my lungs, soaking wet, squeezed under a partially broken umbrella with my husband, with rain beating down on our Target ponchos and the scent of new plastic in the air. Life just doesn’t get any better…

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