Trees and Storms

This is the most violent most beautiful time of year in Missouri. Late Spring brings the last of the sweet spring rains and the first of the tremendous summer thunderstorms, and everything is so painfully vibrant and green that it hurts. The trees are so thick with leaves and flowers and the fragrance wafts throughout campus and even covers most of the smell of fast food and exhaust. The trees provide shade, though it's not yet really needed - thick, moist, deep shade that turns tree lined pathways into near tunnels. Did you know that the University of Missouri Columbia is a registered botanical garden? You can tell this time of year. In Winter it's not so noticeable and last semester I was so overwhelmed by the newness of everything that I didn't see but now I'm absolutely astonished by the biodiversity.

We're in the middle of one of those storms now. Trees are whipping the air mercilessly, the street signs are shaking violently, and of course the rain is beating down incessantly and the wind is creating waves and tides and feels like it is shaking our building, making us rather glad to live in a giant hunk of concrete and making Ben come down to tell us to shut all the doors and windows and we might have to go to the basement. We hear hail. Water starts to come in sideways.

Then it is over.