The Rain

Wednesday it rained.

Emily was shocked.  I am sure that she doesn't remember rain.  She was thrilled when I showed her how to open her hands, palms up to the sky, to catch the drops.  Though the weather lost all enchantment when we told her she couldn't ride her bike because it was raining!  Some rainboots and a raincoat are in order for her so we can let her run around without worrying that she'll get soaked.  Of course, for all it rains here, she'll very possibly only be able to use them once or twice all winter!

We were in desperate need of the rain, and although this little storm was welcome, we really need a whole lot more before anyone with olive crops can breathe easily.  The drought has been intense.  This time of year is when they harvest the still green olives for table olives... but this year many farmers are leaving them on the trees and waiting for them to rippen in hopes of getting more money for the deep purple, oil-destined olives.  If we don't get more rain, I'm affraid some will choose not to harvest at all.

The cloudy sky and fog shrouded hills around La Roda were a sight for sore eyes.  The sun's heat and intensity seems only to increase at the end of such a long summer when the calendar reads October and all you want is to need a sweatshirt and long pants, or an extra blanket on your bed.  Instead we are still scrambling to find shade as we walk along the streets in flip-flops, tank tops and shorts.  It seems like a cruel joke to feel the need to wear SPF 50 sunscreen to go for a morning walk in mid-October!  But so is life in Southern Spain.

I don't think any of my friends or family in the Pacific Northwest can truly appreciate the rain and clouds the way I now can.  Yesterday was intermittenly overcast, but without much precipitation.  The air was crisp and cleaner than it's been in months--all the summer dust hanging in the air was washed away.  The trees were a new green, rinsed of their coating of dirt.  Everything seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that slipped out from behind impressive storm clouds.  And the smell after the first rain is always the best.  The world smells fresh, vibrant, clean.  I found myself near hyperventilation for the huge, deep breaths I couldn't resist taking in through my nose.  Indeed, it was sensory overload.

I am so grateful.  And also so contented to be snuggled in a sweatshirt as I type this.  Happy Fall, y'all!!