Magic and Puddles and Dreams

After the storm yesterday, I went out to walk in the rain-drenched morning. I took my dog, Ebony, who happily splashed through puddles, chasing a water bottle I threw again and again.

Ebony at a giant puddle at a park near our house.

There is usually no water here.

I had my camera and tried to capture pictures of cloud reflections in the puddles, but I was not successful.

My morning excursion reminded me of a whimsical piece my daughter wrote about clouds and puddles. I contacted Aleah in Mozambique to see if she would be willing to be a guest blogger.

From Aleah:

One cannot properly find magical places while riding in a car. They won’t show themselves to people who are too busy to slow down – you need to be willing to look. It’s so elusive that I had given up finding any magic for a long time. I believed the desert city had devoured it with hot summer glares and lifeless concrete teeth. Then, to my great surprise, I encountered an enchanted garden not two weeks ago! I’d tell you about it, but I don’t think the words are ready yet. Magic is hard to share. I’m not yet fluent enough in it to translate such places into words. And when I try to show someone a photo of a magic place, they smile patiently and ask what is so great about regular boring grass. But it wasn’t regular grass when I found it. It was a beautiful, sparkling display of sunlight and life. Magic is like that.

With the discovery of the garden reviving my hope, I was out looking for it on an adventure with the trees. The puddles from a recent storm stood out against the cold pavement, looking so like magic in their longing for clouds. From any distance, the puddles appear as pieces of blue cloudy sky that got lost on the ground. But when you approach them to look closely and ask if they need help getting home, they remember that they are only sad pieces of wet concrete. It’s disappointing for both of us. I think the puddles miss the clouds; they dream and dream of their former home until they finally return. Puddles are excellent dreamers. We could learn something from them.

Look! It's dreaming!

                                 Photo by Aleah.

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My

Countdown of Thankfulness

.

1017 - rain

1018 - the sound or rain

1019 - the smell of rain

1020 - puddle joy

1021 - drops of life on desert leaves

1022 - reflections

1023 - thunder that wakens slumber

1024 - lightening dancers

1025 - one very happy shaking-water-everywhere dog

1026 - clouds to remind us of home