June 22

I masked up and headed outside to get the mail this afternoon. As I closed the front door, I looked up at the overcast sky, and something about the clouds and the filtered sunlight conjured up memories of like-scenes from my childhood back on the east coast. And for a brief moment --thinking back on those days of sudden downpours and heat lightning and lightning bugs-- I wondered if it would rain. But then I remembered that I'm in Northern California and it doesn't rain here during the summer. So I continued down the steps and accomplished my task.

A little later, I decided to go back outside --this time to take the trek up to the upper deck to watch the sunset-- and much to my surprise, it was raining. Actual little drip-drops were falling from the sky.

I stood at the top of the hill for several minutes watching the sun dip toward the horizon and feeling the ping, ping, ping of water droplets against my skin. And I felt a sense of thankfulness for rain and for beauty and for nostalgia. And for little surprises, like unexpected rain.