We're come to the hottest days of the year now. I don't hide from them! I love every season that comes to Bree. They each make a body feel that it's alive. And I want to feel alive, every second of my life! Whether it's the cold biting at my cheeks in winter, or the sun piling down on the top of my head, making me feel heavy and tired in the middle of August. And then autumn will come in a hurry after. That always puzzles me. Why does the summer get hottest just before it goes away? Is it trying to hold on? Being stubborn about giving its place up for autumn? I think that's partly why I try to embrace it. Its time is short, it's about to say farewell, and I want to feel it fully before it...dies.
The drought finally broke last night. The sky were pale and full of clouds all day, and the air were heavy, but nothing came down all day long. I kept looking up and then looking across the yard, hoping against hope to see little drops falling. Even Pumpkin seemed to be as ecsas exxas tired of waiting as I were. She were stretched out on the windowsill like a melted lump of butter with her belly and paws dripping over the side.
It weren't until the sun were down and I were putting supper on the table, and then I heard it. The rain! Not a pouring shower, but soft and quiet and sneakish. I ran to the window and stared hard at the lamp on the street, since all else were dark. The cobbles was shining and wet! Pumpkin looked spooked, like she hadn't heard rain in so long she'd forgotten what it were. Her tail-stump were all poofed up like a mad hen's and she went under Master Tumunir's bed. I went outside and pranced about the yard like a right fool until Tairy came walking up the lane! The sky had gone quiet by then, and I were starting to feel let down, if that were all the rain we were getting. My poor garden were so dry and the shrubs wouldn't bloom and even though I filled the bird's bath from the well each morning, the poor critters were slurping it up faster than I could keep up.
I were trying to accept that the sky had just teased us very wrongly, and Tairy and I were sat down to eat, and then the real rain began! We both looked at each other when we heard it, that beautiful, thrilling, drumming sound! The curtains at the window was blowing like wild, and the air smelled so wonderfully damp and fresh! I wanted to weep and dance for it, but I stayed in my chair and held Tairy's hand and ate my biscuit like a proper lass.
It rained for hours! Beautiful, wonderful hours. After supper, I kept going to the window. At first, the cobblestones was just shining a bit. But after half an hour, puddles was there! Rippling in the lamplight. I kept going back, over and over, to check that I could still see tiny circles of raindrops hitting them. It weren't till well after midnight that the rain finally stopped, and Tairy and I walked home to the cottage, and I felt like I could sleep proper.
There's nothing like the morning after a good, summer rain. The whole earth comes back to life. The sky is extra blue, the birds are singing like they forgot how to sing before, and green things have shot up overnight that you didn't even know was there! The air smells so rich and full of beautiful things; soil and plants and water. Life!
The stream at the edge of the forest has its voice back. I dabbled my feet in while I ate lunch under the burning sun, and Pumpkin stalked about the reeds and grass, pouncing at dragonflies. When Tairy comes home tonight, I will drag him down there for a swim. There hasn't been enough water for swimming for over a month! And summer will be over too soon. And there's not much that thrills me more than helping him off with his armor...
