Rain and The Mothman Prophesies

As I was driving through the rain, I was struck by the beauty light plays as it reflects off the darkness streaking across a wet road.  Of course, there is a point where wet roads mesmerize drivers and that's never a good thing.  But oh, what a fabulous hypnotic spell woven, like a Monet painting, sheer gloss, motions of light and color dancing across the concrete canvas.  It may be harder to drive on a shiny wet road, but it sure is a pretty spectacle to behold.

 

And speaking of spectacles, it was while I was driving down this phenomenal road that I spied a dark something on my driver's side window.  ACK!  A quick glance proved it was a bug, a very large brown bug.  Thankfully, I kept my cool and rolled down my window in the pouring rain to get that moth-like creature to fly out of sight and out of the car.  Reminded me of that movie, The Mothman Prophesies with Richard Gere.  (Shiver me timbers!)

 

This sighting probably wouldn't have bothered me so much if my nerves weren't already frayed.  LTC's having back problems.  He's been hurting for over a week and he's not one to ever complain, even at his worst.  I'm hoping it's not a disc problem.  Future visits to the chiropractor will reveal more.  Meanwhile, I'm recovering from a serious infection that had me shivering for days.  (Thank you, antibiotics!  I adore you.  Just sayin...)  And there've been various family issues to contend with lately, but I won't go into them now because they're personal and would take up too much space.  ;)

 

My point today is this, little things like dragonflies and colorful wet roads stand out at times like this, when we're overly tired, straped thin, or worried.  Sometimes an appreciation for the simple can only take place when the mind is preoccupied.  But it's at those times, the times when life may seem to be near the breaking point, that the simple manifests into something more meaningful and the memory is implanted forever.

 

I'm having experiences like that these days.  And though I balk at change, I'm enjoying the rain.  The cleansing steady drizzle upon my window panes.  The constant flow of water shedding off my gutters.  I sit transfixed watching raindrops pound the pavement on the street.  And occasionally, I get to enjoy the myriad reflections displayed on a road showered with green, red and yellow light. 

 

I'm stopping to pay attention.  Life wants me to take a second look.  What have you looked at twice lately?

Katherine Bone
DUKE BY DAY, ROGUE BY NIGHT 10/29/12 Crimson Romance
www.katherinebone.com

Critters, Fowl , and Vermin….

Yes.  I chose to move to the country.  I wanted it.  That’s what I keep telling myself.  Take me to the river, I said.  Let me be near nature and all things growing, rivers and land.  Just no more concrete.  No next door neighbors I can hear from my dinner table.  No traffic or sounds of the expressway.  Yep.  My choice.  Imagine my delight when I discovered the cows months after moving here!  Love those girls <3

But every so often I get a little uncomfortable out here in the country.  Take yesterday, for instance.  It was finally raining after that stint of 100+ temps.  And it had been raining all night with no end in sight.  I settled in for a long day of reading and writing enjoying the pitter-patter of raindrops against my office window.  That is, until Veezer squeaked….”Mom???”   I waited, just in case it was a false alarm.  She can be dramatic.  Go figure.  But no, she gave me the follow-up “M-O-M!!!” and off I went running.  

And what did I find?  Well, I don’t speak Cat so I can only guess at the translation of…. “Meow…Look how much I LOVE You Ma…Meow….Oh the Fun I’ve had in the rain today….Meooowww! I iz hunGRY! Yum-NomNomNom-MeOoOow” 

Chali2Na, my Maine Coon Cat, had spent the rainy night snuggled close to my feet.  At mine and his usual 4:15am awakening, I let him outside to go on his “rounds”.  He really DOES think he’s the King of the Land!  And he must’ve gotten stuck in the rain or he’d been at this “opportunity” for a while because he was dripping wet, curled up with his food bowl munching away.  But to the other side of him was a gift for me!  Aww.  He loves me so!!!  It was a bird just for me.  Oh!  I praised him and told him what a wonderful hunter he was (all the while thinking of how I was going to discard it without hurting Chali’s  feelings and then disinfect the place!).  I should’ve known something was up by the guardian eye he kept giving the bird.  But no.  I just kept telling him how wonderful he was.  Until the bird took off!  Here’s where everything went into triple-slow motion…Oh Lordy!  It was ALIVE!!!  And that’s when the adventure began of flight, chase, toying, disinterest, removal, and finally a catnap.  For the cat, not me.  I was disinfecting.

I’ve endured many a catch now.  Birds, squirrels, moles, rabbits, snakes, crickets and various other buggy critters.  The worst catches are the snakes, but the worst fight was the attack ON the cat by the skunk.  Ick.  Yuck.  Ouwy!!!  Not pleasant, poor baby.  Can you say “I’m having fun bathing a cat”?  The vet laughed at me.  I did not reciprocate.  And then there’s the often corralling of opossums.  Ugh.  Nasty creatures.  

I like the deer at the water’s edge at dawn.  I enjoy the woodchuck from my porch scurrying along.  And the quail are even fun to watch.  But I’d like to think I’ve met my quota of birds now and can finally enjoy reading/writing that good book while the rain falls steadily down.  

 So how did you enjoy the much awaited rainfall?  Ever catch a mole or a woodchuck before?