Rain At Last

What a wonderful sound it was to hear rain on the roof all Monday night!  A gentle, sustained rain, just the kind we needed.  Tuesday it cleared off for the day, but then today a second wave came through, off and on, gently at times but at other times absolutely pouring.  And there is more rain (or snow!) coming Sunday and into next week.  It seems as if the great weather patterns which determine our daily weather, the jet streams and the high- and low-pressure areas, are finally converging into a period of prolonged rain and snow.

I had one of those perfect runs this morning, getting started a little after 9:00 a.m. before the rain came.  The streets were still wet from Monday, the temperatures warm, and after a mile, I decided there was no reason not to run fast.  So I turned in a 9:38 mile, and then a third mile pulling hills as hard as I could.  Might as well make a hard day as hard as I can, I thought, especially since most of the stiffness from these nagging injuries seems to be at bay for now.  I glanced at the sky and thought, it still isn't raining, why not go an extra mile?  I did, and finished up sore quads but that wonderful feeling of having done one's best.  I stretched, got in the car, and almost immediately it started to rain, and rain pretty hard.  Perfect timing!

I only hope that this same rain is also drenching the Great Smoky Mountains, where it is so badly needed.  14,000 evacuated from Gatlinburg, four dead, and many building damaged.  Douse those flames, O Lord!  For the same devastation could so easily happen here. 

"Drip down, O heavens, from above, 

And let the clouds pour down righteousness; 

Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, 

And righteousness spring up with it. 

I, the LORD, have created it."  

Isaiah 45:8