The first rain of the season!

Sometimes it's as late as October. Occasionally we get a shower in August.

But this year, the first rain signalling the beginning of the end of Summer came today.

I had seen that rain was forecast for later this week. Yesterday it even forecast it for Monday. This morning, when I got up, it was decidedly cloudy. Following my intuition, I picked up my umbrella before walking to church.

Sure enough, around 9.30, I began to smell that scent that I suppose is typical of countries with a long, hot dry spell each year. It's the scent of damp air, of dust gathered from the trees and rooftops, and - perhaps - of plants and grass rejoicing. As I looked out of the side door, there was gentle rain falling. Several people were smiling, and someone offered a prayer of thanks.

It only lasted about ten minutes. But then, around 10.30 when I was walking home, I was caught in the second rain shower. It only lasted a few minutes, but I was glad of my umbrella. It's hard to capture rain as it falls, but this photo does show that the sky was cloudy rather than blue:



The sun came out after that, and the rain dried up. But then around 5pm this evening, there was another shower - more than a shower this time, it was heavy rain for at least fifteen minutes.

Everything looks cleaner now. And it feels a bit cooler. I do hope we have more rain this week as promised, although it won't be much fun for the two sets of visitors who are coming in the next fortnight...