It currently feels like 107 degrees in Little Egypt and there is a promise of hotter temperatures to come. The air smells like smoke…and not the good kind. Earlier I witnessed a few drops of rain on my windshield and felt encouraged…and then it stopped. For a person who enjoys dark and rain, I am a bit like a fish out of water. I can not decide if it is hotter than it was in my youth or if an old man just can not take it like he did at one time. Our Ecosystem is precarious and I have taken it for granted for the majority of my life. Most of the planets that we are aware of do not have remotely an environment that can support human life. A fire in Canada can crown Chicago, Illinois with the title of the worst air quality on Earth.
Earl was terrified of tornadoes. He would wake me and Neva J. in the middle of the night and announce that we were going to the car to endeavor to outrun the tornado that he was certain was bearing down on us. Today it would be difficult to outrun modern tornadoes which often are over a mile wide at their base.
Acclimated we are to the devasting changes that are occurring. For some time prior to the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, people gathered to watch the bombs being tested in the New Mexico Desert. The mushroom cloud was quite a unique show of human ingenuity.
We tend to get hung up on the trivial pursuit of politics/religion while the house is on fire. We want our candidate to win…we want our issues addressed…as we paint the living room while the kitchen is ablaze!
Dark is comforting if you are not afraid. Having spent the bulk of my career at SIUC on either the evening or the night shift…I became accustomed to the dark. Few people are around. Ample opportunity to think and ponder lives greatest questions. Several pots of coffee are needed…
The therapeutic sound of rain landing on my roof or against my windows is a delight to me. Life in the summer is a milieu of sounds and voices and lights and firecrackers. Rain subdues the savage beast.
Dark and Rain cause us to reflect on the Sunshine that we have experienced and the bright future in front of us…
The Happy Traveler 
[…] Dark & Rain […]
Your article offers a thought-provoking reflection on the current environmental state, the need to prioritize pressing issues, and the solace found in nature. It encourages contemplation of our relationship with the environment and the importance of addressing global challenges. I wholeheartedly agree. Our fixation on trivial matters has caused us to lose sight of our priorities. Urgent issues demand our attention, yet we become preoccupied with political and religious debates. It’s like painting the living room while the kitchen burns. The fires of global warming are spreading throughout Canada, suffocating the entire continent. The Earth is metaphorically on fire, and it’s crucial for everyone to acknowledge and address this urgent crisis.
Thank you, my friend. I agree completely!
“Dark is comforting if you are not afraid.” – I love this! It was precisely this sentiment that led me to read (a year or two ago) Learning to Walk in the Dark, which it may be near time to reread. Thanks for the chance to touch in with this, a few hours out from darkness here 💕
My pleasure, my friend.
Thanks for sharing idea and I am not afraid. I walk in the Dark Too.Anita
Cool and peaceful. 🌙