Perfect Rest

I LOVE the rain. The other day, I was walking out to the back of the yard to feed and water Caesar. There were very dark clouds all around and I was trying to get him fed before the rain hit. Needless to say, I didn't make it. I found myself in a new situation. It's so quiet out here that I could hear the rain as it moved toward me. The hundreds of soft thuds the rain made as it hit the grassy hills around our house got louder and louder as the storm moved toward me. It was so incredible that I didn't really even want to get in out of it.
That experience was one of many I've had in which the beauty of a rain storm took me by surprise. I love the cool, delicious breeze that accompanies a coming storm in the heat of summer. I love the sudden quieting of the birds and bugs. I love the sound of rain drops growing more and more urgent on the rooftop. I think it's so amazing how suddenly green everything looks in contrast to the gray sky. To me, the absolute perfect rest is dozing through a thunderstorm on a covered, and preferably screened, porch on comfortable furniture (or a hammock) with a good book laying on my chest for when my eyes no longer feel too heavy to hold open. On nights when I hear the low rumble of thunder and the soft dripping of rain down the gutter, I close my eyes and rock myself to sleep on that perfect porch and hammock in my mind.