Monday, June 5, 2017

FABULOUS DAY FOR A MEMORIAL SERVICE

Today is a memorial service for my friend's mother.  The weather report for the entire week is supposed to be rain, which doesn't bode well for my class's outdoor field trip tomorrow, but the report for the day is overcast and low 70's.  My friend's yard is set up with tables and chairs and audio equipment, so rain would be very bad for the service and for the guests, and it would mean technical sogginess and damp footprints being tracked through my friend's house.

The sky and the weather, indeed the entire universe, however, is no match for my friend's mom.  As soon as the service starts and as soon as the family starts to speak into the microphone, the sun breaks out and shines down onto the gathering.  A solitary hawk dances on the lofty drafts and loops over the service, circling and drifting as the speakers' words trail up into the air.  My friend's mother, a lover of nature, would probably find the surprise aerial guest a good conversation starter and would give us all a lesson on hawks and other birds of prey.

The air is slightly humid, and, just as it seems to be slightly too hot, a gentle but cool breeze comes along to make us all comfortable again, Mother Nature nurturing us all to be patient and keep our attention on the service.  Some high clouds reveal a burst of blue sky, and the day remains sunny and glorious until almost everyone has left to go home.

When the clouds return and gray up the afternoon, the flowers remain, reminding us of the bright and varied colors some people bring into our lives.