Raining Cats and Dogs

Fr. Wichert in the rain

It’s raining here in Tacoma, harder than I’ve seen it rain in a long time.

Earlier this afternoon we had a bit of a water-dribbling-down-from-the-laundry-room-ceiling problem at Pistachio House, which required standing outside in the pouring storm – me on a ladder and nephew Jason holding the ladder steady – while I cleaned out the gutter.

And then there was the matter of the backyard flooding, which involved me clearing muck out of the drain, water up to my elbow.

Here’s a video somebody posted that gives a taste of how hard it was coming down.

Fortunately, it had mostly cleared up in time for the vigil Mass this evening.

Unfortunately, when the time came for the blessing of the animals (in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi), the skies had opened up again.

It was raining so hard that small rivers, perhaps four or five inches deep, cascaded across the parking lot and down the stairs around the church. It was unbelievable.

Even so, some hardy souls were huddled under the old rectory porch with their pooches.

So, carrying an umbrella in one hand and a bucket of holy water in the other, I gamely followed Fr. Wichert out into the maelstrom.

The pets were duly blessed – one of the owners even had last year’s bulletin where we ran the photos of the event.

Despite the umbrellas, by the time we returned to the church, both Father and I were soaked through. There was one little spot of white on my surplice, about an inch across – that was the spot that wasn’t wet.

We tried to get to one of the side doors, but had to turn back after the water started cresting over and into our shoes.

We ducked back into the sacristy door, and Sister Hanh quickly set up a fan to help dry our wet vestments.

Apologies for the quality of the photos, but it was dark and raining!