The double-edged rain

It has been raining here for much of the week- a nice break from the sun and needed to help the vines grow, but in Italy it doesn't rain lightly and every rain storm brings with it the risk of hail... each sudden downpour has me fingers-crossed hoping that it isn't going to hail. The hail would rip through the vine leaves destroying everything. A few years ago the hail stones were so big that the local FIAT garage had to sell off its entire stock at a discount because the car bonnets were peppered with dents- apparently the hailstones were the size of lemons. A local bar has one in its freezer still to show the unbelieving.
E' cosi la vita Italiana...