Two Days / Two Rains
Tuesday dawned clear and sunny. I was a little concerned about being a bit
chilly because the overnight temperature was supposed to dip well below normal. But as I headed out the front door I
immediately noticed that being chilly was not going to be the problem. The air was heavy and still; so still that
even the tiniest leaf on the linden trees in my front yard were still. As I headed down the road, due west, it was a
bit eerie. Everything was so still that
it seemed like I was walking into a snapshot rather than down a country road.
There was a brief rush of motion and excitement as a
bald eagle launched itself from the top of a large oak tree, just about twenty
yards ahead of me. I hadn’t noticed him
perched, so when he appeared overhead, wings flapping hard, it caused me to
take a step back in surprise. He headed
due south out across the nature conservancy with a bold redwing blackbird in hot
pursuit. I surmised that the eagle had
likely perched a bit too close to the redwing’s nesting area for comfort. Perhaps the eagle was annoyed, but I doubt
that he was frightened by his pesky escort.
By the time that I passed the half-way point of my walk
and turned for home I noticed that the sky, which had been bright blue, looked
like it was full of wildfire smoke. It
was haze from the humidity that was building.
Forty minutes later as I turned into my driveway I got a good look at
the steel-gray clouds that were coming behind me from the west.
I took a shower and then headed into the kitchen so I
could mix up an iced coffee. I looked
out over the birdfeeders. There were no
birds. Suddenly, lowly, out to the west
where the dark clouds continued to build, I heard to first rumble of
thunder. I watched as the clouds quickly
closed the distance; all the while the thunder was rumbling louder and with
greater frequency. I really wasn’t
concerned because the weather forecaster had stated earlier that a few “pop-up”
thunderstorms were possible, but nothing severe was expected. I decided it was a good time to close
windows.
As I returned to the kitchen a burst of wind came up,
the rush through the trees sounded like a roar.
It didn’t really start raining.
To start raining usually means a few quick drops that build over time. With this storm, that sky basically ripped
open and spilled out a torrent of water.
I had to turn the light on because it had gotten so dark.
Then I heard a loud ping, then another, then many
more. I realized it was hailstones
bouncing off of the eves. I opened the
front door because there is an overhang covering the front porch, so I could
open the door without letting the rain in.
I watched as the lindens in the front yard started raining bits of
shredded leaves. Hailstones were
bouncing off the driveway and actually accumulating in the front yard. All this kept up for just ten to fifteen minutes. Then, just as suddenly as it had started it
was over. I took a walk around the house
to make check for damage; it was a blessing that there was none. The air temperature felt like it had dropped
about fifteen degrees; later I heard it had actually fallen nineteen degrees. There was almost and inch of rain in the rain
gauge.
The next day there was rain predicted to move in
midmorning and continue until the evening hours. The sky dawned already full of thick gray
clouds. A steady rain began to fall just
as predicted. There wasn’t much wind,
but a puff blew through often enough that the trees could shake drops of rain off
their leaves. This rain was most
welcome.
I noticed that the birds kept coming to the feeders
all day long. Even the hummingbirds
frequented their nectar feeder. All the
flowers that had looked miserable and beaten down in the thunderstorm seemed
happy. The rain gauge showed .8 of an
inch of rain even though it had lasted a good eight hours.
This morning the breeze was stirring and fresh. The air was dry and new. On my walk the sky seemed full of birds.
It is a good thing that God came to us meekly and
humbly as a little child. Shakespeare knew
something about that: “The quality of
mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.” The
Merchant of Venice
His Peace <><
Deacon Dan
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