I was awakened at 1:20 this morning by the hypnotic notes of wind chimes; one deep and sonorous, the other high pitched and tinkly. The wind had picked up, something was happening.

The rain began slowly at first, barely a whisper as the drops fell through our pear tree. It gradually increased in speed and intensity, the whisper became a woosh and was joined by the rat-a-tat of raindrops on the plastic roof that covers our deck. I wanted to wake my wife up but her rhythmic breathing told me she was in a deep sleep. I wanted to throw off my shorts, run outside and do a dance of gratitude to the rain gods for this unexpected gift; but instead I just lay there in the darkness and pinched myself to make sure that this was no dream. As quickly as it began, the rain subsided. For the next hour however, this pattern repeated. Wind chimes sing, whisper, woosh, rat-a-tat, silence. And the smell! There is no sweeter aroma on our blue planet than that of the Earth as it drinks in the first quenching raindrops after a long and parching drought. It’s the smell of hope and renewal, the perfume of gratitude. The dirt, grass, flowers and trees all letting our a chorus of “thank you.”

Twelve hours later I sit and write. Nothing is as it was yesterday. The leaves of our fruit trees glow with a freshly scrubbed brilliance. A crisp, clean smell permeates everything. The haze and smoke has been cleansed from the air, leaving the sky the deepest of blues that bathes our community in peace and comfort. The breeze is in absolutely no hurry, it finds its voice in the music of the wind chimes.

The quality of light has suddenly shifted. Seemingly overnight summer has finally given way to the first glimmer of autumn. Is the drought over? Unfortunately it will take more than a magical late summer rain shower  to put this drought behind us. But for at least this brief moment, the Earth and all living things is letting out a collective sigh of relief.