A Walk Under Storm Clouds

Reading Time: 2 minutes

A Walk Under Clouds

Sometimes you look at the sky above you and you think that walking underneath it is not wise because a storm could break but you remember that you saw that rain should not come before 1800 so you take the risk and you go for a walk. You look towards Geneva and you see that it is dark and that it looks as if it may be raining. You feel the wind coming from that direction and you worry that the weather forecast was wrong so you change the course of your walk.

The wind blows against you as you walk and you hear one or two sounds of thunder. You are not far from home and you know that if you had to you could run to shelter, whether it's underneath a bridge, at a petrol station, fountain or other.

At the same time you don't worry that much. Usually it rains for a few minutes at a time and then it stops, so whether you're caught in it doesn't matter. That's why I didn't have rain equipment with me. If and when I am worried about the rain I dress for the weather. Today I had a dry bag if I needed it but nothing more. It would have been more interesting to film for a few minutes, than to worry about. Weather in Switzerland is boring for the most part, expect for that flood and mud in one town, and hail in two different cantons.

That's why you don't run, and that's why you don't rush if the weather changes. Even hailstorms are over within minutes so you could easily shelter under some trees for five minutes and stay dry. I miss the rain that could last for hours or days in a row. The Swiss weather has rain like we have showers, quick two to five minutes and then that's good until the next day.

A few days ago it rained every day for months and I got used to walking in the rain. I thought nothing of it.

They did advise for people not to walk in wooded areas because of the risk of trees either falling or destabiliing. They said to keep to the normal paths. Hail has already caused millions in damages in Switzerland, just weeks after the Swiss voted against laws to mitigate global warming and weather weirding.

Usually I would be prepared for any weather, if I had planned to walk, but I had planned to run so I was lighter than usual. No water, no rain coat etc. Without a phone call I would have avoided the rain easily.