The Sound of Rain Falling on Leaves
As I made the two of us a smoothie, I noticed it began to rain. It was only sprinkling, but I rushed Henrietta out to the back porch, both of us still in our pajamas, telling her we needed to save the sidewalk chalk before it disintegrated. I picked up the thick sticks of chalk--already a little damp-- piled them in a bucket, and set it down inside the back door. When I turned around, Henrietta had climbed up into a patio chair, and was looking up at the rain.
I pulled up another chair, and we sat together. It was gorgeous out, mild and misty and so quiet we could hear the sound of rain falling on the tall trees in our back yard. Henrietta was barefoot, and a bit concerned about the leaf debris on the bottoms of her feet. "Help! Help!" she said, showing me. And I did my best to brush them clean. She wore her jammies with the ballerinas on them, and a grey and black faux fur vest which she's recently become obsessed with and insists on wearing at all times.
I loved her as we sat there. And not just the way I love her as her mom--with a blissful and billowing and fierce sort of devotion--but as a companion. That's what we were, sitting there: companionable. We both wanted to be there for no other reason but to sit for a moment and look at the trees in the rain. Our wills--which do their share of clashing throughout the day--were for a moment perfectly simple and sweetly aligned.
I pulled up another chair, and we sat together. It was gorgeous out, mild and misty and so quiet we could hear the sound of rain falling on the tall trees in our back yard. Henrietta was barefoot, and a bit concerned about the leaf debris on the bottoms of her feet. "Help! Help!" she said, showing me. And I did my best to brush them clean. She wore her jammies with the ballerinas on them, and a grey and black faux fur vest which she's recently become obsessed with and insists on wearing at all times.
I loved her as we sat there. And not just the way I love her as her mom--with a blissful and billowing and fierce sort of devotion--but as a companion. That's what we were, sitting there: companionable. We both wanted to be there for no other reason but to sit for a moment and look at the trees in the rain. Our wills--which do their share of clashing throughout the day--were for a moment perfectly simple and sweetly aligned.
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