Delightful Oblivion

No rain in Western Washington during the month of April is unheard of.  After all, the old saying has been modified for the Pacific Northwest to read:

April showers bring May showers

Of course, there are flowers that abound during both months of showers, but the point is that spring does not by any stretch of the imagination mark an end to the rainy season. 

After no rain during the first few weeks of April this year, a drought was declared, and the slightest mutation of color on the weather radar made news.   And predictably, late last night, the rains returned.  The pitter patter of rain on the skylights and the drip accelerating through the downspouts woke me up.   When I first opened my eyes, it seemed a strange noise but after only a moment, I realized how normal it all was.

As the sun rose unseen behind the clouds, the pitter patter continued.  The dogs took one look out the front door and decided to delay their potty needs, retreating to their beds and resting as the world grew smaller in the steady rainfall.   After feeding the crew, I crawled back into bed, not yet willing to dig up energy to face the day.  As I looked out the window, a half dozen chickadees, unperturbed by the rain, waited their turn at the feeder outside the bedroom windows.  The gray overcast sky stretched as far as the eye could see into the distance.   The geese in the wetland below were quiet; something about the steady falling rain quelled their incessant honking.   Almost instantaneously, the alder trees had responded to the return of the rain by leafing out in a brilliant shade of green that only spring can bring.

As I took a sip of my morning coffee and gazed peacefully out the window, I took the scene in with a fascination that would match my interest in the best of Hollywood movies.  I felt grateful for the taste of good coffee, the quiet that settled into the woods around me, the warmth creeping into every corner of the house fed by the fire burning in the wood stove, and the contentment of the cats and dogs around me.  All these things settled my heart.

For in these few moments, I existed in delightful oblivion, briefly unaware of COVID-19.  In those few moments, my heart and spirit recovered and relaxed.   And hope, dampened by the suffering and the seemingly endless days of horrific headlines, peeked its head out.... and said Good Morning.