Happy Day

We had a big storm the other evening. An inch of rain in 45 minutes and another half inch through the night.  It was particularly spectacular because the bulk of the rain fell in a very very short time span. There was a point where we could not see the end of the drive about a hundred feet from the house.  For the Canadian prairies, that is a heavy and rare rain.

I love to sit outside on the front  porch when it is raining.  There just isn't anything like the smell of rain, and the smell in the air immediately after a rain.  This time it was impossible.  Rain came under the deck and the mist from the hard drops hitting the ground soaked everything.  This was a storm to watch from inside the house. 

When it was over, no damages, not a lot of sign that it every was.  Except for these small things it left behind.  

Water ran so fast it ridged deep little rivulets in our inches deep cover of washed rock, right down to the clay surface of the drive.  Neat little channels were cut in unexpected ways.  

I admit to a certain fondness for storms of a certain kind.  Snow at unexpected times in the year, heavy but not damaging rains.  There is something wild and unexpected about these things, something primitive that connects even the most ardent city dweller to the power of nature that plays across our great Canadian landscape.  We are sometimes at her mercy though to many times we think we command and hold her hostage.

My daughter in law just called me all the way from the Ukraine to wish me a Happy Canada Day. I will pass that wish on to all of you too.  Go outside.  Look to our roots.  Breathe in big air.  Celebrate our wonderful home.  

Happy Canada Day! 

Updated to add:  I firmly believe that these next few days ought to be an international North American Holiday to celebrate our North American-ness.  From July 1st to July 4th, nothing really gets done anyway.    I'd really like to keep the international holiday going to  Mexico's Independence Day holiday in September, but...