After the storm this afternoon, the neighborhood was transformed. Neighbors spilled out of their homes, some collecting downed limbs and ripped off leaves, others sweeping water from their sidewalks, righting their garbage cans and picking up trash blown in by the fierce winds. Children poured into the streets, riding bikes, sailing little homemade boats in the gutters, laughing and squealing while they splashed through deep puddles.
A couple of blocks away, somebody was running a chainsaw - must have had more than small limbs knocked down if they've brought out the big gun. Somebody else, believe it or not, is mowing his lawn! The trees are still dripping rain, for heaven's sake. Well, it's his mower that will get clogged. Maybe he just couldn't take not mowing his grass another single minute.
The ambient temperature has dropped at least fifteen degrees, and there is a soft, northerly breeze doing its part to push the heat down. There are fewer locust cries filling my ears, but now the birds are out, re-marking their territory with song, since the rain washed away the last notes they laid down a few days ago, before the heat forced them into silence.
I looked out the back windows that face the carport and for a split second thought that it was afire. Not so. It was the light - a gorgeous pale orange - from the sunset bouncing off the semi-gloss paint. I put flip-flops back on and went out to the front porch to catch the show. My camera was acting up again, so I just stared at the sky, trying to remember the dance of color and light.
Cantaloupe-hued clouds streaked in sinuous waves across a cerulean sky. Maxfield Parrish would have given anything if he could have caught this scene. (I apologize for the amateurish sketch above, done on the computer; wish I could do better, to do it justice.)
We aren't out of the woods yet, with heat forecasts for the coming week edging back up toward ninety again; but, for this evening and all night long, this is what summer is supposed to be around here.
A wonderful end to a happy day; yes, indeed!
8 comments:
You painted it perfectly, better than any camera could accomplish. I remember that experience so well, I can smell it, taste it.
The after storm calm and beauty makes the heat and build up worthwhile... pity your camera didn't work but your words pictured it in my mind beautifully.
Happy Birthday!
Did you get "the" book or should I send my copy to you when Liz is finished reading it?
yeay!
Joanie
Beautifully written, easy to read, and catches the quality of life after a summer storm perfectly.
You describe it so well, painting a delicious picture where I would like to be. :)
I think you've captured the colors and movement of the post storm evening sky perfectly Crow, and your words fill in all my senses... it's a beautiful evening here as I sit outside for the first time in ages here, typing to you. I'm so grateful for a break from the humidity, and a bit from the heat!
Happy day after your birthday, and thank you so much for stopping by and leaving me a b-day message, sister Leo cusper! Blessings for a healthy, joyful new year of life,
Karin
That was indeed a beautifully written description of a perfect late afternoon in a neighborhood blessed with welcome rain. I liked your picture too.
I love that color description. Cantaloupe.
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