Saturday Morning and the Rain has Come

4 April 2020

There's a fat man on the porch in the rain.  My apologies to Lowell George.

A woodpecker pounds away on a tree in the light rain.  This light rain has only been going on for about an hour, it is very light more than a mist-less than a drizzle.  Still the sound of the pounding of the avian with grub lust has been dulled.  No staccato sharp tap, tap, tap. What I hear now is a slower, less resonant echoey thud, thud, thud.  Have you ever listened to the second album Paul Simon did of world music? Rhythm of the Saints was the title, I think. Throughout the music on that CD there is a soft wood drum sound. The woodpecker is making that sound. Yeah, today the woodpecker could be the percussion for a soft atmospheric world music song.

Last night I had so many dreams.  I must have been in a very light sleep with all the REM activity going on.  Some disturbed me, some were just goofy amalgams of news stories and fantasies. Still, my sleep was light enough that some errant noise woke me almost bolt upright.  It sounded like a garbage can lid being dropped or a door slamming.  At five in the morning, on a Saturday morning, in a community where we have had frequent recent rummaging in vehicles inadvertently unlocked, I had to get up and see what was going on.

I dressed silently.  I carried my shoes and flashlight with me until I go to the steps to the ground floor.  I put my shoes on there, went downstairs and turned on the front stoop light.  Turning on the flashlight I scanned our car and saw nobody near it.  I stepped outside and checked to make sure the raccoons had not been attacking the garbage. Then, I traipsed around to the back porch and deck to make sure no mischief was afoot there. Nothing, whatever it was it was not happening in my domain.

After this little journey I decided I was not going back to sleep, not easily.  I turned on the decaffeinated coffee pot, grabbed my bowl of Meijer Wheat Squares and about 3 ounces of OJ.  I pulled up the Washington Post and read it mostly cover to cover. I was befuddled by the problems the CDC and the FDA had getting testing up and running.  The gridlock and missteps have probably cost America tens of thousands of lives. I was saddened by the sacking of the Navy aircraft carrier commander.  The rationale given for his sacking seems contrived.  I think outside of the Navy he will have a good career possibly as a politician. His actions imply he is someone who is willing to speak out and say what needs to be said.  His politics may not be mine, but the officer has backbone.

Birds trill, the rain makes a sound that is more patter than hard drop.  So much life is out here, just off my back porch.  I needed a break from being in the house so I have relocated out to my porch table and I have put a leather jacket on. 50F as I type but in my $10 real leather coat I am comfortable. The scent of rain cleaned air is a delight.