● Precipitation: things falling from the sky

    ○ rain: water, makes one wet

    ○ drizzle: water, makes one wet slowly

    ○ downpour: water, makes one wet quickly

    ○ freezing rain: water, mostly in cold weather, can make one wet, can freeze

    ○ hail: layered balls of ice, causes pain, injury, damage

    ○ sleet: solid balls of ice, causes slipperiness, often accompanied by rain

    ○ snow: fluffy ice, can stick to people, can make one cold, can make one wet if it melts

● Patterns:

    ○ thunderstorm: rain with lightning and thunder

    ○ tornado: wind, circular, can damage towns

    ○ hurricane: like tornado and thunderstorm combined, can be a hundred miles across

    ○ monsoon: rain spread across days or more

    ○ dust storm: wind blowing dust and sand, can damage skin, eyes, lungs

Weather in this world is more unpleasant and dangerous than weather in Eorzea. More than how it is when it is happening, it can cause problems after it happens, like flooding, icing and blocking.

Tornadoes I saw in Eorzea were caused by spells from large monsters. I have not seen a tornado happen randomly. Yet not only do they happen randomly in this world, wikipedia says they happen a lot in a place called "Tornado Alley", the center of which is northwest of us. So I may be seeing one in the future.

I experienced a thunderstorm. It was loud and sudden and made me wet all over in my clothes. I felt as I did while swimming in Eorzea, except that I was standing on land. My clothes pressed on me. My shoes felt odd as I walked. Water ran from my hair and my beret into my eyes. And Husband laughed at me when he saw me. I am not sure which of those I disliked most, but I poured a bucket of water onto Husband to even things out,

Husband spoke of waterproof clothing and umbrellas. I may be able to make waterproof clothing, but I wanted to see an umbrella, so I bought two. They are similar to the parasols we can make, but more similar to parasols we sometimes got as fashion accessories. The ones we can make are large and meant to stand alone in grass. We do not have recipes for parasols we can carry.

These umbrellas are very mechanical. There are a number of moving parts, though not as complicated as a mammet. The way the parts move remind me of goblin machinery. Outdoor parasols are made of cloth and metal ingots and are not meant to move or change shape. I think I must identify the parts and make those, then put them together. Recipes upon recipes.

I took one umbrella apart as best I could. I did not recognize the cloth. The rods that held the cloth up were I think made of steel. They are strong and thin and can flex without breaking. I do not think I can make rods like this in iron, not as thin and not as flexible. But Husband said he thinks that to make steel we need to go to an unpleasant place far to the west.

Wikipedia said steel is made of iron and carbon. The page for carbon said many things I do not understand, but some of it said carbon is "abundant". So I decided to let Husband redeem himself for his laughter and went to talk to him at the shed. I got club sandwiches at the diner on the way and met him for lunch.

He smiled as I handed him the box. "Did you bring water?"

I shifted to Blue Mage. "How much water would you like?"

"We can have a water fight. But the sandwiches might get wet."

I nodded, shifted back to Earth normal and sat with him in the shade of the shed. "I have a question, Husband. What is carbon?"

"Long answer or short answer?"

"Wikipedia has a very long answer."

"Gotcha. Okay...carbon is stuff that's in a lot of things, especially living things, usually mixed with something. Animals take in carbon by eating and give it off by breathing. Plants take in carbon by breathing and use it to grow. It can also be found underground in the form of coal."

"Coal is carbon? There is coal in Eorzea."

"Yes, but is there carbon? I don't remember any Eorzean talking about a periodic table."

"What is a periodic table?"

"That's part of the long answer."

"Another time, then, please. So we need coal to get carbon?"

"Not necessarily. Easiest way to get carbon is to burn wood. All the not-carbon burns off and leaves ash behind. That's carbon. What do you need carbon for, anyway?"

"Wikipedia says steel is made with iron and carbon."

He stared at me.

"I thought perhaps we can make a recipe using carbon instead of bomb ash."

He stared at me.

"...Husband?"

He looked away and rubbed his face. "Shit, my love...we could've made steel the first night we camped out."

"We had not started making recipes then."

"Yeah...still..." He looked confused. "I shoulda thought of it. So...when the recipe wants bomb ash, the operative word isn't 'bomb' but 'ash'...? Maybe because y'all used fire shards instead of actual fire?"

"Perhaps."

"My wife is fucking brilliant."

"Did you ever think otherwise?"

"If I did I was an idiot. Must be because I'm an idiot that we haven't been making steel by now."

I decided to forgive him for the laughter. "Shall we go camping, Husband?"

"Out by the iron nodes?"

"That sounds wonderful."