RAIN!!

After what seems like an eon, Rain has arrived. Not enough, though, to put out the Fires which have Williams Lake surrounded, but it will help, without a doubt. It has dispersed the smoke and that fact alone means so much.

I can breathe...deeply and often. When Air is filled with smoke, one tends to take short, shallow breaths. As a consequence, oxygen going to the brain is less and tiredness, anxiety, confusion and a whole host of other maladies result.

It is such a relief, as well, to have the Forest dampened down. It will not be much Rain; the forecast is for warm weather to arrive once again. But oh! it felt heavenly this morning to walk through the garden.

The Dogs, too, are having an easier time of it. During the smoke-filled days, they wouldn't go outside and laze in the shade, as is their wont. They would pant if they were outside for any length of time. During my research on what smoke does to the physical system, I learn that is how Animals breathe in smoky Air...by panting.

I hear on the news about Animals milling around on the highway, confused and disoriented. Sightings of big game and Cattle are everywhere a Fire is burning near.

So, with the Rain, my greatest wish is, as their breathing patterns change for the better, that all the Animals who were displaced find another home outside of the Fire area, even if they have to travel great distances to do so.

It will be easier for me to leave on a trip to the Coast, now that some Rain has arrived, as well. When conditions were as terrible as they had been, leaving the Dogs behind felt a little disloyal, even though they love our dog sitter, and rarely even miss us.

And I was greatly worried about Fire breaking out near where I live. Even though that fear may arise again, since Fire season will be on-going, conditions are such, on this day, that the fear has gone on the back burner.

I am thrilled to see my family again so soon after they were here. It only joins us stronger together, each time we see each other. It will seem as if we are a part of their ongoing lives, when visits are closer together, rather than the distance we must traverse each time a visit occurs. A visit, in that case, must take a lot of time playing catch-up. This time, we have already caught up.

Today, even the thought of the long car trip and the subsequent tiredness on my return can't shake my feelings of joy. It is like coming out of a long, dark and very stuffy tunnel. When I was in it, it was all I could see or feel and it felt like it would go on forever.

But today there is Rain.