After A Rain

I would say that the month of July is a month of extremes --- when it’s sunny, the hot dry air seems to lull you into a drowsy state with the world standing still; and when it rains, it really pours, with episodes of, thunder, lightning and gusty wind to boot. And August shows signs of being not different from the previous month. So far, the month started with a blast… literally and negatively. A tornado hit a town (Hautmont) in the northern part of France 4 days ago (August 3) which is quite a rare occurrence. Hailstorms in May are becoming a “normal” phenomenon here. But a tornado? I believe the last one struck the country around 40 years ago and there are around 5 documented tornado outbreaks (including the most recent one) in the last millennium. Many families lost their homes and I hope they will be able to have a roof over their heads before winter comes. And even if it is summer now, housing for the disaster victims can still be a problem because of the rains we periodically experience, especially since the northern part is known for being the “wet” region of France.

I am more a "sunny day" person than a rain-loving one. But with the exception of calamitous weather conditions which, of course, bring about catastrophes, I think there’s something fetching in the air after an afternoon drizzle and the sun starts to reclaim its rightful place in the sky. It seems that the rain had washed away everything clean, turning things back in their pristine state. Grass appears to be greener, the air fresher, trees and flowers sparkle as water droplets glint in the sunlight. And everything looks to have attained a certain amount of clarity and richness that were dulled by the heavy, humid, stifling atmosphere before a thunderstorm. It’s like being reborn --- wonderfully seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling things as if for the first time…