It's Raining

Roswell was a smooth sail but there was more of New Mexico to be seen. The next stop was Albuquerque which stood hours away.

Imagine a tiny freeway stop of a town. Its occupants a handful of families who have lived there as long as anyone can remember. Their humble businesses barely keeping them afloat but somehow they always pull it off. Paint flakes off rusted vehicles strewn recklessly in the tall grass. 

The birds stir on the wire overhead. Those restless birds and the barely palatable humidity hanging in the air, you know something’s about to happen.  A fear rises in you then, that abandoned motel is looking ominous. Could that uneasy feeling be coming from a murderer within its walls? 

You shutter and retreat to the safety of your car, pulling your sweater tight around you. Let’s keep going you say, not as a commentary on life –even though it is. 

Your car pulls out back on to the freeway and suddenly the sky darkens. You roll down the window to breathe in that heavy air and just then the droplets start to hit your windshield. They come slowly first, then start to fall in heavy sheets. A flash of light illuminates the whole sky, and is quickly followed by that low rumble that shakes the earth. Over and over again it strikes.

Inside the car is silent, the two of you just glance at each other, hands intertwined. Then suddenly there is a sense of urgency to reach your destination. 

To be caught in that thunderstorm driving though a landscape such as that which exists in New Mexico is a thing of dark beauty and romance. Those moments you cannot plan only relish.