Friday, August 20, 2004

 

Jess left for Albany, today. It snuck up on me, a little bit. I've been really busy with work, lately, and then my dad came up for a visit this week. And I'm planning on heading up there for 3-4 days, the end of next week, so it wasn't really seeming like an abrupt end, or transition. This afternoon, though, it really hit me. I felt alone, and vulnerable . . . feelings I haven't really felt in a long time.

I came home a little early, frustrated with my work and feeling kind of overwhelmed. A little while later, a thunderstorm rolled in. "Alright," I thought.

I stripped down to shorts & flip flops, and headed out into the rain. It was barely a sprinkle, at first. 100 feet from my house the wind started kicking up, and the rain started falling harder. A minute later, I could hardly see, sheets of rain were hitting me sideways, and I was drenched through. It felt like I was walking through a hurricane. "WHOOOOOOO!" I screamed, face split in a huge grin, looking up at the sky, at the thunderheads, my arms spread wide.

I walked on, and moments later the storm got even louder. And suddenly, a little more painful. WTF? I dodged under a canopy, and then realized hailstones the size of blueberries were bouncing all over the place, around me. I was lucky the canopy was there - I think they could have done some serious damage.

I waited out the hail, and then started back to the house, still through a steady downpour. I got home completely drenched, and feeling almost reborn.

posted by Miles 9:35 PM