Wet leaves

April 28

We were supposed to go on a nature walk with friends today but it is raining and pouring. I'm sure there is an old man snoring somewhere. We spend the day mostly inside enjoying our company and a BBQ lunch prepared under an umbrella.

After our company leaves my first grader and I head downstairs to check on the bird's nest she discovered a few days ago. We creep out of the basement and look up. Nestled under the deck between a support column and the flooring there is a little mass of mud, grass, and sticks. "There it is!" she whispers. We stand listening for a time but the rain is so strong that all we hear is the rush of water falling and running.

Our gaze moves to the impromptu river that appears along our back fence whenever it rains. "Let's go see our river," my daughter says. We pad across the grass and stop at our little creek. The water rushes and turns before heading into a culvert in our neighbor's yard. We wonder about where the water goes and how long it will take to get to the ocean. We decide that next time it rains we want to try and float toy boats and rubber duckies from one end of our yard to the other.