Musings: A Summer Shower

“A drop fell on the apple tree, Another on the roof; A half a dozen kissed the eaves, And made the gables laugh…” 

Ah, the words of Emily Dickinson in her poem so often referred to as “Summer Shower”. Yesterday we had summer showers here (although some of our neighbors had outright downpours!). But at Selma, the lightning threatened and the thunder barked and boomed, but in the end, all they gave us was a gentle rain. I had the doors open as the rain pattered on the patio and the breezes rushed down the ridge through the ravine and across the back lawn. 

The gentle rhythm of the falling rain is soothing, but it is the smell of it that I love. It starts thick and steamy as the droplets stir the dust into the air. For a moment I can smell the earth all mixed into the breeze just before the rain wins and beats the soil back to the ground. The sky flashes here and there and the clouds grumble in the distance, but the rain persists, sporadically at first, then steady. As the air cools, the freshness of the sky is everywhere. Oh, how I love the summer rain!

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