Monday, January 18, 2010

Glorious wet


It's an in-house day:  I have a feeling of, "I hope I'm not forgetting something..."  I just may be.  Oh well.  This is the kind of day that I have loved since I landed here, on this beloved planet.  The weather is dramatic, rain pounding down, gusts of wind.  Mmmm, the kind of day that when I was a teenager, I loved to grab Duke and ride him head-on into the wind and rain.  Did he love it too?  He seemed to; snorting and tossing his head, and so responsive to my leg, ankle, heel or the shifting of my body to one side or the other.  We raced through the pasture, through the water rising in the low spots, until we were steaming and panting with the wildness of it all.  I love these storms!

Coming home this morning I saw these!  I had to stop abruptly and flip a U, and come back to believe my eyes:  pussy willows!  Out of the car, I could hear the roar of the water rushing through the willows, through the culverts, under the bridge.  Wow.  I love it!  Oh, I already said that.

Now look:  this is lots.  More than enough.  Rising with every burst of cloud.  The water moves quickly, with an urgency known only to it.  Downhill.  Towards the Pacific.  Move, move, move.  The low places fill with clear water, and start the movement.  Of course, with cultivation and civilization, roads and pavement, much of the water forgets how to soak-in.  Rather, it begins the mad-dash.  Let us not forget that it is managed and directed and denied its natural tendency to soak first, to replenish the ground water, to fill the soil with moisture, wetness, drenched-ness.  Rain water which lands in or on or about urban areas quickly becomes a raging, swirling, entity.  Perhaps this explains the tendency of the humans to drive their four-tired machines out into the middle of large, moving currents where their roads were yesterday and become stranded.  Oh, thank goodness for cell phones, eh?

At my feet lies the smaller world, of tiny weeds, pebbled pavement, and a drain.  Humans tend to think of everything, and to build things that they think up.  Humans drain swamps, fill in gullies and springs, build things on the top.  Usually it isn't until much later that discoveries are made showing the unfortunate results of the ingenious and incessant building.

"Well," says Luna, "when are we going back out?  Huh?  Let's not waste this day!  It's winter, we have a giant puddle, an orange toy for throwing, and an opportunity to drown a pup!  Let's go!"

oxxoxoxoLC

5 comments:

N2 said...

Glad the weather is keepin you inside long enough to get a post out. Love those pussy willows. I feel drawn to take a walk down by the river and pick some to have on the mantel. Spring must be just around the corner if the pussy willows are poppin. x0x0 N2

Bethany said...

i love your photos and your writing and especially the very beginning of this, with your memory of riding your house. magical.
i know just what you mean of the "i hope I'm not forgetting something" kind of in-house day.
and i loved your line about since you landed here, on this planet.

and pussy willows! my favorite. thank you.

Bimbimbie said...

Oh naughty Luna ;) has pup been too much of a pup for you.

I'm having an inside day too, only it's due to the heat for me. So true what we nutty humans do to make water run and has no time to take a soak and then we wonder why homes get flooded*!*

Bimbimbie said...

... just spotted gorgeous Emerson's photo, he looks a deep thinker :)

Annie Jeffries said...

Wonderful story, Laura. Terrific pictures to accent your words. I love it when a girl knows how to drive and look at the world at the same time and then apply the brakes when a treasure is found.

 
script type="text/javascript" src="http://s44.sitemeter.com/js/counter.js?site=s44larabee">