Lady Rain

Two inches of rain overnight, the gauge tells us. We heard the gutter overflowing, water slapping on the porch roof. The green world takes a long drink.

Soft and steady by morning, this is what the elders call a lady rain. We step outside, as we do upon awakening, and are cheered by the accordian notes of the jays. The rain falls silver on the field.

The darkened woods changes by the hour. Every time we look up, the crowns are thicker, the hues richer. Everything looks better in the rain, the colors of the opening leaves as pleasing as in autumn, and holding more promise.

In this dripping, beaded world, even the stones shine. And in the evening, when the edge of the cloudsheet lifts from the hills, we understand that we, too, have been nourished.

copyright 2010 J. O"Brien, all rights reserved