Equinox

Equinox day, and with the autumn came the rain.  The cool blew down and the clouds blew in, innocent puffs of blue and white gathering in the sunset, thickening, darkening, and finally bringing the thunder. Thunder! When has there been a summer without thunder?  But, that's what we had this year, not one single thunderstorm. Instead, we had a heat wave in June followed by a late, soaking rain in July. No lightning, no thunder, just rain.  After that, day after day of sunny blue skies, hot, bone dry, perfect weather for rivers and lakes and all the things I love. There were a couple of days with moderate smoke from a fire down by Happy Camp, but not bad. Last summer, we were surrounded by fire on four sides and enveloped in smoke for weeks.  It was like living in the gates of hell. This summer was blessed from start to finish.

Ever the busy bee, I went straight from work to an exercise class, from class to the grocery store, back to work to pick up my forgotten jacket, and didn't get home until 7:30.  The clouds had gone from drifting to gathering at that point, but the sky was not threatening in the least. Ate my dinner, sat down to watch some Netflix and there it was: thunder; not an epic, end of the world crack, more like an accelerating jet engine and damn loud. Here in the bone dry forests of the west, the sound of thunder brings fire to mind, but not tonight. Tonight the thunder was immediately followed by sweet, sweet rain. It's been coming down steady for a couple of hours, quietly clattering on the roof.

Every year, it feels like a miracle when the rain returns. This year is no different, but it's the cherry on the sundae instead of a reprieve from death row like it was last summer. What a blessed, blessed year.  Would they were all like this.