Under the Milo

One of the things this city girl misses is being able to walk everywhere. So today I parked in town and decided to walk the mile to the Japanese Gardens. My plan was to spend some time there with Al Gore's newest book, Assault on Reason. Mother nature had something different in mind. I was enjoying the walk with the wind blowing and the temperature dropping. I felt as though nature knew I needed that walk and was therefore conspiring to make it as pleasant as possible. But the wind seemed to be blowing a bit harder and there was this strange sweet smell to the air. It reminded me of that juicy fruit gum. I looked up and saw the darkest cloud moving towards me. Unphased and determined I continued until I noticed that not only was there a dark ominous cloud moving towards me from the west but there was one coming from the south as well. These clouds seemed to be closing in on me with their fingers stretching out trying to grab hold of me. Then came the rain. I realized I was in trouble. There was nowhere to go and my book was going to fall victim to this afternoon shower. I ran to a nearby milo tree and hid under the canopy of it's large branches. The rain finally settled into a slow drizzle but I stayed under that tree. I found comfort in it's covering. I will always be amazed by how unpredictable nature can be.

And in case any of you are questioning my sanity with the whole juicy fruit thing, it turns out that there were golden shower trees, "sweet peas," lining my walk.