This morning I was woken up at ten to six by a flickering light. Initially I thought that Ian had left a lamp switched on somewhere which had subsequently developed a faulty bulb. Or was it the paparazzi – again? It turned out it was lightning and as I couldn´t hear any thunder, I knew the storm was still quite far away. How kind of the rain to give us plenty of warning, I thought. Despite having had an almost unbearably humid day and rain having been forecast, we hadn´t really prepared ourselves for a downpour. I got up and took all the covers off the chairs, brought in newspapers, books and walking boots which we had left out on the patio and moved the vast quantities of almonds we´d harvested and packed in plastic binliners, into the dining room. Then I went round the entire house and closed several windows which we normally leave open. I thanked my lucky stars that I had finished with all my fig drying and, back in bed with a cup of tea, I waited. The thunder could now be heard quite clearly and the room was almost constantly lit up by flashes of lightning. At last, the rain arrived. The heavens opened and the sound of water lashing against the windows and onto the patio slabs outside filled the air. The centre of the storm never really got that close as the thunder wasn´t that loud (thankfully). I drifted off to sleep again, safe in the knowledge that when I woke up, the sky would be blue, the sun would be shining and the rain would have stopped. I was right. Several hours later, only a few puddles of water on the terrace and a soaked cardboard box, which I had forgotten to take indoors, remained as evidence of the early morning rain. The air was wonderfully fresh and all the stickyness of the previous day had disappeared.
You might ask yourself why I deem it appropriate to write a blog about this. The reason is that this was the first rain we´ve had in over three months, so it does become quite a special occasion, really, when it does rain. Sorry, I didn´t want to rub your noses in it, what with all the floods in the UK we´ve been hearing about on the news. I´m just continuing my theme of positive blogs, remember?
Anyway, look on the bright side: at least the grass will always be greener in England ;)