Day 294: Rain Clouds

Taken by Andrew Matthews/PA for the guardian

In England when you see a cloud like this, you run.

A clear summer sky which is suddenly dominated by an ominous cloud means at any moment you are going to get drenched. The rain materialises in one massive downpour lasting only a few minutes and leaving you looking like a drowned rat. I've seen people try to outrun such rain, they failed. I've seen people huddle under trees to avoid such rain, they failed. I've even seen people stand in the relative cover of a building with an umbrella to get away from such rain and, you've guessed it, they failed. The best option is to make a dash for the nearest shop when you see a black cloud. This often results in you running to a sex shop you wouldn't normally go into and huddling awkwardly in the doorway like a water-averse pervert.

Today when this cloud appeared over Stockholm a mad a dash for the nearest shop, where I spent 5 minutes looking, with mild to nonexistent interest, at second hand cooking utensils.  When I dared to leave the shop I found it was indeed raining but it was a kind of rain which English people would call piddle. It was piddling down. It was the kind of shitty, noncommittal rain which drops so intermittently you can walk around it. I'd made all that effort to respect the power of the rain and avoid it, only to find out the rain here demands no respect. If the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain then the rain in Stockholm doesn't fall, mainly.  It lulls you into a false sense of insecurity and then drops a few token drops.

UPDATE: Later there was, in fact, a thunderstorm! But not a lot of rain...