storming

just stormed for over an hour and it was amazing. it was impending rain all day but i wasn't getting my hopes up. i reseeded a whole shitload of Parkinsonia and minutes later the sky dumped a wallop of a storm on top of us. it was a thrilling storm, low and heavy and what felt like mere inches above the roof of my hut. i never really thought i would experience something like this in person -- flickers of lightning rushing through the wide, expansive sky while patches of clouds revealed the ongoing sunset.

after the storm was reduced to a drizzle i ran outside to check on my reseeded sacks -- thank God, everything had stayed put. the kids came outside and frolicked through the puddles. i got to watch a newly shaved dame (i guess it was something to do during the storm?) experience puddles. i assume it was one of the first large puddles he's experienced 00 as he was an infant his last rainy season and he was absolutely thrilled to run through a gigantic puddle cat came up to his knees! he was filled with absolute glee and excitement -- running back and forth through the puddles and laughing the entire time. i was glad aram let him do so and a bunch of us had a blast watching him experience rain in a way we would never again be able to since our first rain (which by now we don't remember). he came running towards me at one point and just as i was telling him not to fall, he tripped and fell, belly-flopping into the puddle, before i could finish my sentence. perhaps that the best way to experience a deep puddle -- as it certainly wouldn't be to step around it. i was tempted to do so too but was scared i was not setting a good example so i went into my yard to privately jump around.

meanwhile remnants of the storm flickered by as the sky cleared up and gave us a last glimpse of the day before night descended and the bush exploded into frog song.

one of my vegetable beds was flooded so i proceeded to dig little channels for the water to run out of and as i was doing so, a little frog dug his way out of the mud, jumped into the water for a swim, and upon exiting then hopped off to join the wild symphony of amphibians. its totally wild and straight out of the freakin' discovery channel but this time its not on tv but in my backyard!! its nuts.

today's humidity has been washed away and the dark evening sky (we are approaching the end of the moon cycle so it won't show up for another few hours) is littered with stars now and the bush is alive with new sounds of frgus and bugs brought on by the storm, animals protesting their dampness, and growls of the storm making its way east towards kaffrine. this is truly fucking beautiful and we needed this rain so badly as it hadn't rained for nearly two weeks and our crops were just sprouting and in danger of drying in the blazing sun.

granted we have 4 seasons in ny/nj but i have never felt so a part of the earth's cycles...be it the moon or the rains or the crops or even the life cycle of frogs. there has never been a feeling like this.