Katherine Nicolai

peering closely at the flowerbeds, drinking up all this good water, then into the reedy line at the edge of the lake, where I spotted a long-legged egret, bright white against the green and gray of the water.

What was the experience of a bird or a fish on a day like today? If you have ever seen a horse running unrestrained on a beach, then you know the joy that animals can take in movement.

What was the experience of a bird or a fish on a day like today? If you have ever seen a horse running unrestrained on a beach, then you know the joy that animals can take in movement.

What was the experience of a bird or a fish on a day like today? If you have ever seen a horse running unrestrained on a beach, then you know the joy that animals can take in movement.

And I wondered what it might be like

And I wondered what it might be like

And I wondered what it might be like

to soar near a rainbow or to swim just below the surface as gentle rain fell.

to soar near a rainbow or to swim just below the surface as gentle rain fell.

to soar near a rainbow or to swim just below the surface as gentle rain fell.

The sound of the rain rushing down suddenly doubled and a gust of cooler wind raced through the screens. All right then, I thought. Enough. I'll go back in. I picked up the frame and my dust cloth and stepped back into the house, pulling the door to the porch tightly behind me.

The sound of the rain rushing down suddenly doubled and a gust of cooler wind raced through the screens. All right then, I thought. Enough. I'll go back in. I picked up the frame and my dust cloth and stepped back into the house, pulling the door to the porch tightly behind me.

The sound of the rain rushing down suddenly doubled and a gust of cooler wind raced through the screens. All right then, I thought. Enough. I'll go back in. I picked up the frame and my dust cloth and stepped back into the house, pulling the door to the porch tightly behind me.

I remembered a window open in a room on the second floor. and rushed up the stairs to nudge it closed. Small puddles lay on the sill, and I used my cloth to mop them up. On the way back down, I switched on a few lamps. I liked the gloom that the storm had brought, but I also liked a bit of glow here and there,

I remembered a window open in a room on the second floor. and rushed up the stairs to nudge it closed. Small puddles lay on the sill, and I used my cloth to mop them up. On the way back down, I switched on a few lamps. I liked the gloom that the storm had brought, but I also liked a bit of glow here and there,

I remembered a window open in a room on the second floor. and rushed up the stairs to nudge it closed. Small puddles lay on the sill, and I used my cloth to mop them up. On the way back down, I switched on a few lamps. I liked the gloom that the storm had brought, but I also liked a bit of glow here and there,

I think I was revisiting that feeling of being under the boat in the rain.

I think I was revisiting that feeling of being under the boat in the rain.

I think I was revisiting that feeling of being under the boat in the rain.

A little pocket of a different kind of feeling in a sea of something bigger. I dropped my now damp dust cloth down the laundry chute and set the photo on the mantel. If I tried, I knew I could come up with more tasks to attend to. But just now, the sound of the rain, the blotted-out sun, the flash of lightning on the far edge of the lake,