Wet

I woke to bright sunlight drying the last traces of damp from the pavement while white clouds scudded north, and I feared I'd slept away the entire storm. But more clouds arrived to gray the afternoon and drop more rain (though only in brief showers) that soon bejeweled the leaves and flowers and grass. The streets glistened again, reflecting the roiling sky, and the air was filled with the chattering of woodpeckers who'd gathered in nearby pines. Frequent gaps in the speeding clouds let sunlight fall and brighten all the water drops clinging to leaf-tips, and then another gray mass would ride overhead and the dimmed light would deepen the colors of the world, and the quick drumming of raindrops would resume. In other words, it was a perfectly splendid April afternoon. During the lulls, I got out for a couple of quick turns around the back yard, but my cat preferred to sit indoors and watch me from a perch on the window sill. She missed some delicious air. The storm will probably be entirely gone by tomorrow, but it's been nice while it's lasted.