Rain

It finally rained. For weeks now when the thunderstorms would pass through, they would not pass through our holler. We’ve been through this before. One summer there was a bad drought for the whole area, but everywhere except here got some rain. Some. It would rain a mile one way from us, or a mile a different way, but not right here.

Ah, but yesterday afternoon it clouded up, a magnificent breeze blew through, and I sat outside in it on a chunk of log we used as a splitting base this past winter, with various kittens climbing over me finding a place to settle down. I sat there and the rain was to the north and we rarely get rain from that direction. But the wind blew and I said, come on rain.

Come on rain, come on rain, come on rain.

The two days past we’d gotten some rain each day, but only bits. The dirt was dry as powder down in our deep beds. The green growing things were just sitting there, waiting for water. We can water some, but we can’t water the whole thing. The water in our cistern was going down a little each day, almost imperceptibly but, like I said, we’ve been through this before; we know what to look for.

And the wind blew harder. And I walked down through the woods toward the field to get a better view of the sky. I could hear rain. Not just wind in the leaves but rain in the leaves. Did you know one of the most destructive forces is the force of a raindrop landing on ground that doesn’t have the covering of some green growing things or mulch? It hits with an unbelievable force. I could hear it hitting leaves. I thought it might have even been raining as close as our garden without raining on our house.

But finally it came, big drops, making me laugh, driving me eventually back under the canopy of the trees, still laughing. Yes rain.

The chant was taken up by my youngest child who had joined me laughing in the rain. Yes rain yes rain yes rain.

It rained enough to get the garden beds damp a foot deep. That’s good. And the creeks roaring a bit.