Thursday, August 18, 2005

before the rain

the darkened sky broods overhead and the wind powers through the tall oaks in my backyward. . . woosh. . the pliant branches sway and bend. The windchimes clang lightly in the twilight. The wind blows then recedes, shifting and ruffling the glossy, thick-leaved vines that drape over the deck trellis. Crickets are squeaking, motorcycle engines whine in the distance. The air feels saturated and the breeze is brisk and cool. A siren pierces the soundscape, then fades in the direction of someone's trouble. A faraway train whistle joins the cacophony . . .these are the sounds of living.

I see bird silhouettes just above my neighbour's roofline. . .strips of deeper blue slice through the cloud cover in the distance. The moon is full but hiding. Acorns pelt the wooden deck. Geese do a flyby. . their distinctive cry is all Canadian.

The rain seems imminent, but hesitant. Night has fallen fully and calms where it touches. My heart rate slows slightly and my breathing deepens. Every wind swell stirs the thousands of darkly green leaves that tremble above me . . . . waiting

16 comments:

kathryn said...

oh the coos, the bonney coos!!!
you know how i love them! and they always knows to huddle under the trees when the rain is coming.

glad you like the poeticism. . . i was feeling poetic as i sat on the deck and tried to listen and watch something as simple as the night fall. . gotta talk about that, cuz you know i don't ever see a sunrise!!! haha!!!

kathryn said...

yeah, you caught me. . i was thinking 'honk'. . but that's an awkward word, eh?

Kevin said...

Wow... I felt like I was there. It sounded so peaceful (besides the siren and motorcycles). The sounds of living can be beautiful.

kathryn said...

you're right, Kevin. . the sounds of living can be beautiful. Nightfall is so cool, its like there's some giant cosmic dimmer switch on a timer!

Krista said...

I love taking in the world as it waits for a storm! And man did it storm! It allowed me an extra hour of sleep this morning, as I decided not to go running whilst lightning struck above! It was broken sleep though - pelting rain, flashing light, and thunder booming! It's kind of exciting to wake up to all of that commotion!

kathryn said...

wow, i missed the storm!!!! You know, i didn't hear a thing. . i often sleep through storms and i've been teased that i could probably sleep through WWIII and would wake up and say "WHA?!!"

oh well. . . the 'prelude' was lovely. . but i missed all the excitement!!! d'oh! i love storms, but i don't blame you for not running in the lightning!!!

kathryn said...

geez, i'm starting to get tons of spammy comments. . . i keep deleting.

the lorider said...

pur-ty post!

just cruising thru - I noticed your b-day was aug 8: happy birthday! I noticed because that's my fav day, and I started my new blog on that day.

anyway, GL with your kitchen and happy blogging!

see you again in blog-land!

the lorider said...

ps interesting dicussion about m&ms, etc. I'm with you - there is such a thing as too much, even with m&ms!

kathryn said...

thanx for visiting, Lorider! our kitchen is shaping up. . slowly. glad that you liked the discussion on "m&ms". .

take care!

kathryn said...

spammers!!! I don't want your stupid comments. . get lost!

yeah, my words are gonna keep them all away, as if they even read all the blogs they infiltrate. . . they prob have some 'speed setting' by which they get as many blogs as possible -- ?like shooting fish in a barrel. . .

I may soon have to do what Krista has done and close this off to anonymous commentors. I think i might have deleted 10 spam ads today.

Tracy said...

We had a storm? I don't recall hearing a storm. I must have been awake though. Hmm... Continue to wax poetic Kathy. I wish I had the creativity to do it myself.

kathryn said...

thanx, Tracy! the poetry writing was something i indulged in a few years back. . i shelved it. . but i do enjoy it and have thankfully broken away from the need to make it all rhyme! some of my early stuff was so friggin' rhymey! blah! on the other hand some things sound good when they rhyme, i guess its all how its done. .

as for the storm. . yeah, i didn't even know we had one till Krista mentioned it!!

kathryn said...

LOL!!! yep!!!!

Dale said...

Great poeticism Kat! I loved it! You have a wonderful way with words and I could see/hear it all in my mind. Perhaps I could even smell the rain coming. (I have an uncanny ability to smell rain coming and predict how long it will be before the clouds open up. My wife thinks I'm nuts and wants to know how I do it. She doesn't believe I can smell rain coming. LOL)

kathryn said...

hey, thanx, Dale. I can smell the rain coming too!!! what a great smell. .