Friday, February 20, 2009

Something woke me in the middle of the night. My legs were wet. There is a ceiling vent over my bed (one of those that Robin and I cleaned yesterday), and rain was coming through. I closed the vent. Robin closed the ones in the kitchen and bath. We went back to sleep.

Again, something woke me; I wasn't sure what. The clock read 4:44. I looked out my open window, saw the sky brighten and go black again. That must be what woke me. Again, the sky went bright, went black. Finally, there was a distant rumble. The storm must still be far away. I opened the screen and reached outside. The rain was warm and gentle, barely a drizzle. I closed the green curtain across my bed so I wouldn't disturb Robin, turned on my reading lamp, and read the last few pages of Goldberry Long's Juniper Tree Burning, weeping with the rain. I couldn't imagine reading something new while that beautiful prose was still whispering in my head, so I turned off the light and listened to the storm coming closer and closer.

When I awoke again, at 5:35, the rain was audible on the roof, the lightning was brighter, the thunder came faster. At last, the storm had arrived. I scrabbled around in my traveling collection of books, found Adrienne Rich's Diving Into the Wreck, and read again. When it was 6:45 and a respectable hour to get up, I did. Coffee for me, tea for Robin.

When Robin got up, he went outside. Chica and her Mom were waiting. I had three eggs that had broken in the fridge while we drove. I heated my cast iron frying pan and set about scrambling them for the dogs. I added garlic to frighten the worms. I would mix the eggs with the dry food I bought last night. It came in a plain plastic bag, and when I bought it I thought it was puppy food, but on second thought, it's probably cat food. These dogs won't care.

Before I could get the eggs out of the pan, our next-door neighbour appeared with a huge aluminum foil pan full of meat and rice (leftovers, she said) for the dogs. She asked permission to feed them under our awning. Of course. They polished off their breakfast while we stood around watching, discussing the weather. Robin said that he regretted having paid for a week in advance. If this rain continues tomorrow, he thinks we should cut our losses and head farther north. I suggested that the weather might be even worse up there. We will see.

5 comments:

Reya Mellicker said...

I could feel the storm building, just reading this. Wow. Exciting ... and scary! At least it seems scary to me.

Your comment made it through the storm clouds, past Brother Wind and into my blog. You are mighty.

Sandra Leigh said...

LOL - full of hot air, you mean! It's still raining, but the storm has actually settled a bit, so the internet is less upset, and I have a whole window to write in.

Unknown said...

Wonderfully descriptive-- Rich would make good early a.m. reading.

Sandra Leigh said...

Thanks, John. For once, I decided to sit down and write while I was still in the moment. Note to self...

Debbie said...

I hope you find clear skies soon!

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