Rain February 8, 2014

Finally!  Rain!  It has been raining the past few days, and more precipitation is forecast for the future.  I was eager to get to Pi on this dreary Saturday morning both to check on the house in this, the first significant storm of the season and to bask in its grey tranquility.

As I drove up the final steep curve of Lucas Valley Road, approaching Big Rock from the east, a small SUV coming toward me spun out of control on the slippery surface, nearly crashing into me, but instead settled into the deep ditch on the hillside.  I pulled over in a turnout zone, flipped on my flashers, and jumped out to check on the driver.  He was fine.  I was fine.  With a few back and forths of his four-wheel drive, he maneuvered his way out of the gulley, thanked me, and drove on. 

Continuing even more cautiously toward Pi, I passed the Nicasio Reservoir to find it … wet!  Actual moisture, a few inches deep, layered itself onto the deepest parts of the basin.  Such a long way to go, but still, a start.

Now home and settled, I eat my lunch and watch the birds as they too seem to relish the arrival of rain, feasting on worms, playing in the pools of water, and preparing their nests on my studio’s eaves.  The swale now cradles a very large puddle and I can almost hear the lavender sighing, “Ah!”