6/15/2006
Alberto and Me
The remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto came to town yesterday, and he brought a lot of rain with him. Greensboro must've been at the fringe of the system becuase it started raining sometime Tuesday night and kept up a steady beat all Wednesday morning, not stopping until early afternoon. I had cracked the window the night before to get some fresh air into the room, and was greeted to the sound of rain falling on the roof the next morning.
I've always loved rainy days. Maybe I'm just weird, but I love the gloom of the thick clouds, the sound of the rain as it falls on the roof and the concrete, the mist, the coolness, and the stillness. Rainfall is one thing I can always count on to soothe me to sleep and keep the Beast at bay. Especially under a tin roof, like houses used to have in this part of the country. I will never forget the sound of the rain on my grandmother's tin roof. Hearing that sound never fails to bring back very pleasant memories. I pity people who've never heard the sound.
I even like watching thunderstorms* through the door, although as I've aged, I've learned not to get too insane about it. Watching the lightning and seeing the rain beat everything into submission under a canopy of cloud-supplied gloom is one of those moments I live for. But I'm old enough now to recognize the danger when the lightning gets a little too bright, the thunder gets a little too loud and the show on TV gets replaced by a worried-looking meteorologist standing in front of multi-colored maps. Then it's time to close the door and listen out for sounds of a freight train.**
But yesterday morning carried none of that. It was just pleasantly gloomy, misty and rainy. Just like I like it. The kids weren't up yet and Mama was still drowsing in bed, So I got myself downstairs, made some coffee, pulled a chair up to the front window, popped in a mix CD I'd made especially for days like this and drifted into my own little world of rain and music.
I was still there when Ness came down wanting her customary cereal and TV. Sigh. Still, for about an hour, it was Heaven on Earth.
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*As a child, I used to stand in my grandmother's metal screen door, quite unafraid, as thunderstorms would spend their fury right over the house. Used to scare her to death. I never could understand why she worried so, but now I know: Stupid me was courting a lightning strike near all that metal.
**This may become a problem someday as we are close enough to some train tracks to hear a train passing. As everyone knows, the sound of an approaching tornado has been descriibed asa sounding like a freight train. I've got to teach the kids to stay especially sharp during bad storms.
I've always loved rainy days. Maybe I'm just weird, but I love the gloom of the thick clouds, the sound of the rain as it falls on the roof and the concrete, the mist, the coolness, and the stillness. Rainfall is one thing I can always count on to soothe me to sleep and keep the Beast at bay. Especially under a tin roof, like houses used to have in this part of the country. I will never forget the sound of the rain on my grandmother's tin roof. Hearing that sound never fails to bring back very pleasant memories. I pity people who've never heard the sound.
I even like watching thunderstorms* through the door, although as I've aged, I've learned not to get too insane about it. Watching the lightning and seeing the rain beat everything into submission under a canopy of cloud-supplied gloom is one of those moments I live for. But I'm old enough now to recognize the danger when the lightning gets a little too bright, the thunder gets a little too loud and the show on TV gets replaced by a worried-looking meteorologist standing in front of multi-colored maps. Then it's time to close the door and listen out for sounds of a freight train.**
But yesterday morning carried none of that. It was just pleasantly gloomy, misty and rainy. Just like I like it. The kids weren't up yet and Mama was still drowsing in bed, So I got myself downstairs, made some coffee, pulled a chair up to the front window, popped in a mix CD I'd made especially for days like this and drifted into my own little world of rain and music.
I was still there when Ness came down wanting her customary cereal and TV. Sigh. Still, for about an hour, it was Heaven on Earth.
-------------------
*As a child, I used to stand in my grandmother's metal screen door, quite unafraid, as thunderstorms would spend their fury right over the house. Used to scare her to death. I never could understand why she worried so, but now I know: Stupid me was courting a lightning strike near all that metal.
**This may become a problem someday as we are close enough to some train tracks to hear a train passing. As everyone knows, the sound of an approaching tornado has been descriibed asa sounding like a freight train. I've got to teach the kids to stay especially sharp during bad storms.
# posted by Cybermancer @ 8:22 PM 
