and like thunderous applause, the rain descended

I've had that sentence milling about my head for several weeks.

A couple of weeks ago I had to go and put fliers on the doors of the people in my ward as I do every week for my church calling. So I took Optimistic. with me and we headed over to the complex. It was wonderful outside - one of those dark and stormy night type evenings, with more than a summer's breeze blowing - more like a small gale. The apartments were all dark when we arrived. Apparently the whole block had lost power. And in true old ward fashion, everyone was out on their balconies enjoying it. From far away I saw flames coming from in front of #15 and more than anything I hoped it was a trashcan fire. Upon closer inspection it was just somebody responsible using their grill to shed light and warmth. Rats. But still, there were people partying a little and somewhere in the distance someone was setting off firecrackers. It made me so pleased to see all this. I realized how much I'd missed the chaos that comes from living in the old ward, where people are slightly crazy and fun-loving. Just my kind of people.

And like I said, the weather was perfect. It was warm with a large enough gust factor to cool things off and make it chaotic at the same time. I love being out of doors in weather like that. I have a faint memory of leaving the old Beaverton library as a child one summer's evening carrying a stack of books, and I thought to myself that the weather at that moment was perfect. It was another evening with a breeze.

And the day after I got back from Yellowstone the sky opened up and unleashed biblical amounts of rain on this small town. I opened every window in the house to let the cool in, to let the smell in, to welcome in the sound of such a downpour. The rain makes me happy beyond all reason, blustery summer evenings make me ecstatic, and quiet, still, evenings spent laying in the grass are enough to make me think that this world we live in is perfect.