Reflections

Outside my front door is a bush, tonight covered in raindrops. They catch and reflect the porch light. On one leaf there are two drops very close together. When I went outside and saw them, glittering slightly as the leaf was moved by a slight breeze, I thought at first that they were the eyes of some small creature. They reminded me of the eyes of the foxes or raccoons or coyotes I have seen from time to time, watching me in the night. It took a moment for me to realize that they were only raindrops. I was a bit disappointed. I had hoped that perhaps they were the eyes of a small frog. It has been a long time since I have seen a frog in my yard, though I have lately been hearing them croaking nearby almost every night. I would like to have frogs in the yard again, as I did when I first moved here, when there were more trees. Maybe there will be a rain of frogs, such as Charles Fort wrote of, or such as plagued wicked kings in the bible. I would like to see that, too.

What? Weather? (Surprise!)

After sleeping through morning rain, I woke to bright afternoon sunshine which would now and then be replaced by shade from bright clouds. Now, the clouds have won the tug of war with the sun and cover most of the evening sky. Surprisingly, the camelia blossoms have survived the rain and cold and look only slightly battered. In fact, more of them are beginning to open. A purpley-bluish iris beside the house has also begun to bloom. And, a big bunch of clover has sprung up in a patch of dirt where the cats like to bury their droppings. I guess all is well. The guy across the stret should probably not have washed his car this afternoon, though. I'm sure there will be more rain.

(Anybody sitting in a crowded theater? No? OK.) FIRE! FIRE!

Sitting in my room minding my own business when suddenly I heard a loud buzzing noise, punctuated by snaps, crackles and pops like the devil's own bowl of giant Rice Krispies. I looked out my window (once I had determined that Sluggo was not attacking me) and saw flames shooting up the wall of the vacant house next door. The electric meter had shorted out and burst into flames. I called the fire department, of course, though the outside fire burned out before they got here. They broke open the garage (the meter is on the wall of the attached garage) and found a smoldering fire on the inside, too. PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric, the local utility company) was called and they disconnected the offending house from the electric grid. But now I will probably have fire nightmares. I have been prone to them ever since, when I was about five years old, our neighborhood movie theatre was gutted by a fire and I was deprived of movies for six months. Worse, I just took a look at the meter on my house, and it is the same make as the one that blew up. Yikes. Time to call an electrician.