Rain

It’s raining, and the forecast is for mixed showers and sun for the next few months. I like rain, especially the gentle mist that falls right on the line between warm and cool.

It’s good for the plants, and the grasses, and it’s good for me. I like the way it falls on my skin and hair. I like the smell of it.

I like the sound of it, which is no sound, but also no sound of wind, nor birds, nor joggers nor dogs barking because most people are inside, avoiding it. Not everyone, though, and then the silence is punctuated by the hum of occasional car or truck, or bang of the trash truck standing in stark relief to the quiet whisper of the day.

I find I need a lot of white space in my life. I need a period of silence before answering a question. I need a clean kitchen in order to start breakfast, or dinner. I need a clean laundry room in order to start and finish doing the laundry.

Rain gives me that, writ large. The whole sky is white, and the bare branches of the trees, damp. stand out against it, black.

I like the clarity.

I know it’s temporary, that in a few hours, or a day, the sun will shine, the trees, already beginning to bud, will put forth their leaves to rustle in the wind, the bang of construction will begin again on the houses being built on my street, the dogs will once again stand at the fences and bark, the birds will flock and sing, but for now, for this moment, I shall enjoy the respite.