IT RAINED LAST NIGHT

this morning the dragonflies were here already;  where one Was as i clicked the shutter

009

the mutant bean plant blossomed in the dark it seems001

 they saw the Lightning002

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things had to be redone this morning008

 New Mexico.  the most benevolent place on the planet in its way.  harsh, hard,  but it won't let things die.   tonight, sheets of Rain,  a wall of Rain.    the first since over a year.   there is some fear.  you know you could die but you just listen,  ears pricked, you feel it in your footpalms, like everyone Out There;  toads, coyotes, scorpions, birds, snakes, plants.  who i think have no fear, just shelter how they can and listen.  i shelter here.   earlier, before it came, Wind came in the house and knocked a heavy picture frame off the wall.    i knew then that it was coming.  Monsoon Rain.   ran out to bring in the clothes off the line  just as that first strike hit.  that Lightning that splits your brain in two,  splits your heart in two. 

this is what i will miss most.

as the Rain flows down, sky river,  the Lightning is overhead.  direct vertical hits one upon the other. 

it seemed to be quiet so i went to bed…to those wind blown Tide sheets.  fell asleep.  but then maybe,  well, i don't know how long,  but it began again and i drifted in and out of sleep finally getting up to write this down because i knew by morning,  the acute sharp sense of it would be gone.   i want to remember this moment,  the feeling of it all,  the smell of those wind/sunset/tide sheets,  the lying there upon them in the flashing lights,  the pungent fragrance rising up from the earth to meet the rain,  the beginning of the driven bleating of some Spade Foot toads who were either fatally foolish or desperately courageous.

i need to hold so close the understanding  that this scene gave me.  about living each single moment fully,  as is.  this is how i want to go forward.

rain  012
 

 
 
 

 

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18 responses to “RAIN”

  1. handstories Avatar

    just as i was reading about the lightning- there was a flash! i looked out to the sky, nothing? it was Blue playing w/his camera…oh, well. but a very exciting read here. so happy for you and your world. i love a good storm. and that wall of rain you’ve stitched- just great.

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  2. Vicky Avatar

    i see lightning in it too…

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  3. Nancy Avatar

    Grace,
    you write the poetry that is a summer storm. I miss the big thunderstorms I had in the Carson Valley, northern Nevada. I lived there only 5 years, but it will hold my heart for a lifetime. Summer storms with thunder, ear-splitting…and lightening bright as daytime with clear skies…rainbows from one side on the valley to the other..raindrops big as quarters…and the Smell…oh the smell – nothing on earth like it. Thanks for bringing up these memories for me, from where they lay in wait, just below the surface.
    I love the rain you’ve stitched. The greyness and wall of it rings so true. Sigh 🙂

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  4. Jeannie Avatar

    There is nothing like a monsoonal rainstorm in the desert. I experienced them when we ran the Colorado in our dory. The lightening so bright it was like daylight and the rain so heavy it sounded like we were sleeping next to a newprinting plant. The palpable sense of relief from the dry earth. The storms here in the Washington desert aren’t as dramatic, but there still is a sense of being refreshed. Everything, even the air is cleaner and the people smile brighter. While I fear range fires from the lightening, I watch mezmerized as the storms move through. Thank you for getting up from your bed to write this.

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  5. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    bless that boy Blue. providing a sound track.
    i can’t wait till i can do rain on this last one of the
    lightning……
    daughter’s truck is getting towed down here to “my”
    mechanic. won’t start. so that was the later part of
    this day………

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  6. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    yes then. you know it.
    when i lived all my life in Michigan it meant so little
    because there was so much

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  7. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    you know it too. there is actual phenomena, i can’t remember the
    name of it or its details…something about ions???

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  8. jude hill Avatar

    to be this close. is worth it.

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  9. Eva Ucgatwork Avatar

    Hi Grace,I like your story very much – it sounds somewhat scary but on the other hand it seems to have a beauty of its own. I once experienced the first day of monsoon in India – I have never seen that much rain in such a short time again …but as I read your description I would it another try in New Mexico! I would love the smell of the desert after the rain.
    Enjoy your day and take care!
    eva

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  10. Tammy Avatar

    Grace your writing is as beautiful as your stitching. I love your descriptions and I could see it all in my mind as I read each word. Its so good to have this awareness of wanting to be in each moment fully present and to want to hold on to the magic of it! I’m sure you will never forget. I have not been in rain in the desert but I am familiar with your feelings.

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  11. helen lee Avatar

    So glad the rain came. Your words made me feel I was experiencing it too….and I could see so clearly, you running out to get the clothes from the line. Thank you for an exciting read.
    Hope your daughter’s truck starts ~

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  12. nance Avatar

    i still remember hearing those magical toads in the downpour! little monks chanting. just out from their cave where they have been meditating in solitude. this post is a treasure grace. you at your best! thanks. namaste!

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  13. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    close what a beautiful word

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  14. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i see things like this in your photographs

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  15. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    yes! the clothesline ritual…i’d hung them, not knowing
    if there would be time to dry…
    nope. will hopefully be towed here today????

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  16. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    your words are wonderful too…little monks chanting and that is
    such a perfect metaphor
    but then oh those little monks and monkesses…what they do next!
    ….i will think of this now when i listen to those chanting nuns
    …..maybe something to do with the “Bellowing Laugh of the Dakani” ?

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