Cloudburst and then

An enormous downpour has been looming for several days now. Yesterday, before the skies broke open, I snuck over to Starbucks for a late afternoon latte, a needed shot of energy for an evening program I had at the boys' school. Round about midnight, I realized that my advancing age means that I am no longer impervious to 4pm caffeine. Damn.

In any case, I sat outside, basking in the heat, and enjoyed watching this menacing cloud settle over our area. Look at the way that tree animates the wind's path. Fortunately the rain held off until after the school gathering; the storm made for a hell of a lullaby.

Everything is calming now, and I feel rather like I'm in a rainforest. It's so intensely green and wet out there; you can almost see the humidity. The birds continue to sing, and I'm sure an even greater number of ants will soon seek asylum in our house.

A week or two ago, we had a similarly intense rain. It went on for days and there was a great deal of awful flooding all around. The morning after that storm finally put a sock in it, I was driving home from dropping the boys off, and I saw in a misty clearing the most wonderful image. An elderly man with a cane was slowly walking his three-legged dog down the middle of a side street. I imagined them to be of the same vintage, taking advantage of a dry moment outside when neither had to rush or worry. The symmetry of their twosome was really beautiful; both on three legs, both moving comfortably at a pace the very antithesis of rushed, a symbiotic team of the best sort. I hope they're well.