News That Stays News

Imminence August 24, 2014

July 23, 2014

Today was hotter than usual until the late afternoon. Then it started clouding up and when we sat down for dinner at six, we could actually feel the air changing, turning cooler and moister. Soon we could see rain clouds coming north across the wetland towards us, and the atmosphere turned electric. Not literally—there was no lightning—but there was an excited tension running from one person to the next. It’s going to rain; it’s finally going to rain!

And at 6:15, it did. We could hear the rain just outside, and everyone who could was staring south as if their lives depended on it. I finished my dinner as quickly as possible and went outside to soak up the rain. It was falling gently, but it was falling. When I went back to the lab, I left the fan and my music silent so I could listen to the rain.

That I had to strain to hear the rain should have warned me, but it didn’t. Fifteen minutes after that first wonderful drop fell, I was standing outside cursing the clouds for stopping.