Mercy in the Madness

I wouldn’t ordinarily take a walk on a rainy day, but I know that if my dog stays in the house all day, he will suffer. So when the drizzle turns a bit finer, I zip up a light rain jacket and grab the leash.

We walk straight to the woods behind my neighborhood where some kind neighbors have created a little system of trails. The paths there are muddy, treaded from tires into mucky little streams. My sneakers squelch and I feel water seeping in. But that’s not the only thing I notice.

Everything looks brighter with a fine glaze of rain. The green is fresher and more vibrant – it fills my eyes in every direction. The occasional streak of the royal blue of a jay or scarlet of a cardinal seems more brilliant somehow in the rain-softened light. The slick tree bark shines richly through the leaves, and everything shivers with the soft patter and shush of rain drops, brightly accented by the trill and chirrup of bird song.

Under my feet I see petals and tulip poplar blooms – pale spring green and yellow, with their thick streak of soft fluorescent orange. I remember playing with them as a child. Now and then they float down with the rain. I might not ordinarily notice them, but they fill the muddy path I am walking.

A shaft of soft sunlight melts through the clouds and canopy and the whole place glitters. Some prickly, flowering vine is blooming everywhere – probably invasive, but sweet smelling. Thick with pale pink buds, and pure white petals, its delicately trembling yellow stamens look like stardust. It is spilling over trees and shrubs, fountaining up from the ground. I might not ordinarily notice it, since I would be inside doing housework or staring at a screen.

When we go back to the house, the dog will fill the room with that wet-dog smell. He will track mud across the floors. He has long, clumsy nails that scratch and course, heavy fur that sticks to everything. He knocks down the children in his enthusiasm and has gas that could make a dead man gag.

But today I absorbed the colors of tulip poplar blooms and stardust in the woods, so today seems like a good day to be thankful for the dog.