Today is a storm.  With the exception of the occasional downpour or couple hour thunderstorm, things have been pretty dry around here.  It was a welcome relief to finally have a total rainy day.  I was still able to walk in the forest with an umbrella for half an hour, I stood near the enormous waves in front of the foggy lake as the wind howled, and I got to read, lounging on the couch without feeling guilty about not being out in the sunshine or under the stars or moon.

In New York City, I also relished rainy days here and there, but they seemed more frequent, and I just had a small room with a decent open view of the street area below and the sky.  You felt protected from the storm, but being in such an urban environment, you always feel kind of removed from the elements.  Here, with the metal roof, every acorn that falls and every droplet of rain water announces its arrival with a loud bang, one of the many sounds of connection between human and the outside world.

Then again, with more territory under one's domain, there comes more responsibility.  I was listening to Bob Marley's record "Survival," and the song "So Much Trouble in the World," and then I stepped in a puddle.  For the past couple hours, whenever I've been thinking "Now I will relax," I step in a new puddle.  The roof mostly does the job, but when faced with certain onslaughts of precipitation, leaks will appear here and there, and not always in the same places.  I've got four new leaks and six bowls/buckets/coolers going right now.  Ironically, one of the leaks was right above many empty water jugs and a cooler, but was far away and I didn't hear it until recently.  I also found three beers I'd forgotten about, so that was welcome.

Sometimes you need to repair the leaks, other times you can just put out a few buckets, monitor the situation for new events, and wait for the storm to pass