thunderstorm all day

thunderstorm all day --

white ice marbles hopping,

brown water floods the creek

"April showers bring May flowers," so the saying goes. But today, all day, it's been an April thunderstorm. Thunder wakes me around 5 in the morning. Then in mid-morning the sound of heavy rain on the roof changes and I look out to see white ice marbles hopping around as they hit the green grass like small white grasshoppers. During the hail storm, I count the interval between lightning and the loud thunderclap -- only one second. On the way home I stop to watch the glut of brown water flooding over the banks of Pilgrim Creek, engulfing trees and spreading out into the surrounding fields. Bedtime and it's still raining.
          

Rain all night and again today, though much lighter than yesterday. All the farm ponds, half empty from the drought last summer, are now overflowing. The shore end of the bridge to the little island on Adam's Pond is submerged, but the big water-guzzling willow, chartreuse leaves trailing in the water, looks delighted.