The world washed clean

Me and the dog, Cissy, shared a wild, wonderful night of thunder, lightning and rain last night.

I was reading in bed around 11 (Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty). I heard this sound that I couldn't identify, so I put down my book and listened more closely. Ahh, now I know what it is! Plunk -- plunk -- plunk; the sound of raindrops! I love to listen to rain while I'm in bed. The sound of drops hitting the aluminum awning over the bedroom windows accelerated. I turned off the light and conked out.

Then I awoke, hearing the dog's tags clinking and her nails clicking the hardwood floors. She was in our bedroom (usually, a no-no), trying to find a "safe" place, as she is terrified of thunder. If she had it her way, any time it thunders, she would become a 70-pound lapdog. I pulled her doggie bed into our room, told her in my reassuring-mother-voice that it would be okay and climbed back into bed.

What a show Mother Nature provided! It rained and then it really rained. It boomed and the lightning cracked. Cisco audibly shuddered! The rain would die down and then come back for another downpour. Rather than being dark, our little house was lit up inside by all the light outside! I sat in the living room for awhile and felt the cool air pouring in through the cracked-open window. Cisco lay on the rug at my feet.

At two, I was wide awake and thought about calling S to see if she, too, was enjoying the show and would she like to talk? But, I decided not to chance waking her up, and finally climbed back into bed, hugged the fat pillow, and fell asleep.

This morning, the air flowing in through the bedroom window was cool. My sense was that the world had been washed clean.