Before the rain

Stepping outside this morning, I found it was several degrees warmer than in the house. The windbell was spinning furiously. Grey clouds passed swiftly overhead, as they have all morning. Tree tops sway with balletic grace. The remaining leaves are being snatched vertically from the branches and twisting high in the air before raining down elsewhere.

Crows also blow this way and that, stalling against or racing with the air currents, lifting and plunging spectacularly. A kite, aerodynamically superior, coasts lower, feathers ruffling, holding its course. Indoors, the wind moans ominously through gaps and cracks.

This perturbation has continued until noon. It's only a matter of time before it begins to rain.

--Julian