Rainy Day Interludes
Rainy Day Interludes
In this, the rainy season, a day without rain is a rarity. Between showers, however, we enjoy walking outside to gallop through rain puddles or to take photographs in the moist, clear air. The film of dust is washed away from each leaf and blade of grass, and everything glows with a new freshness. Countless water droplets, shot with a thousand colors, tremble on every surface. It reminds me of that beautiful poem by Emily Dickinson.
A drop fell on the apple tree,
Another on the roof;
A half a dozen kissed the eaves,
And made the gables laugh.
A few went out to help the brook,
That went to help the sea.
Myself conjectured, Were they pearls,
What necklaces could be!
The dust replace in hoisted roads,
The birds jocoser sung;
The sunshine threw his hat away,
The orchards spangles hung.
The breezes brought dejected lutes,
And bathed then in the glee;
The East put out a single flag,
And signed the fête away.
You can see by the ripples in the water that the wind is busy. The trees, particularly the palms, sway and whisper, and one of the screen doors slaps back and forth with a repeated bang-bang. The brick one of the boys put there to keep it closed has been nearly pushed off the door step.
The lawn is sprinkled with little magenta beggar ticks, beautiful wildflowers. They adore the wet weather.
On the walkway are scattered bright green sprigs of acacia. I enjoy examining these detailed bits of nature, meanwhile keeping one eye on our explorative kitten Frankie. He is having great fun, pouncing on the dancing fern fronds.
I love the way the sunlight filters through the green veil of the acacia tree. Very occasionally (and in better weather) we will think to set up the hammock that swings beneath. Littlest Sister and I share memories of taking pillows and a quilt there to read Beautiful Girlhood in the shade. Of course, all four brothers make certain that we also have memories of swinging and rocking wildly.... and then tipping over in a tangle of arms, legs, and hair.
The delicate leaves are beautiful, each imprinted distinctly against the azure sky.
I love our acacia trees, but Papa tells me that this is because I don’t have to prune them. They have astonishingly long thorns, I will admit, but the stunning combination of gnarled bark and lacy leaves quite wins me.
This perky gentleman is Frankie, the firstborn of the kittens recently born. His three sisters and his mother have been sent away, and so he has become particularly fond of his little masters and mistresses. (Estella-the-cat doesn’t yet know what to think of him.) Here he is in a rare interlude of stillness. I think he wants to play.
When the plump rain drops begin to fall again, we hie ourselves to the house (unless Frankie gives us trouble and hides himself in the ferns). Littlest Sister has been baking pumpkin bread. Maybe we can coax a piece from her.
Photographs: Various. © Handmaidens of the Shepherd, August 2008.
COMMENT ON THIS POST BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO THE HANDMAIDEN.
KAYLA H said...
What a delightful picture post. It relaxed me just reading it!
Frankie the kitten has grown quite a bit since I saw him last.:-)
Are you going to the Double Edge Asian night dinner tomorrow?
Thursday, September 4, 2008 07:37 PM
HANDMAIDEN said...
I am glad you enjoyed the post. I love rainy days; they are so peaceful.
We were going to the dinner, but I am sure you have heard by now that it has been postponed. We do plan to attend, though, whenever they reschedule; I look forward to seeing all of you there!
Friday, September 5, 2008 12:08 PM
Tuesday, August 26, 2008