The rain came back to Seattle tonight, falling in hard, cold, sheets. It destroyed the canopy that used to shelter our backyard oasis. The canopy was wrecked but my foolhardy wife ran out into the yard and disassembled it piece by piece, fighting with the water and bent aluminum, getting soaked. The cat came in a few hours later, looking like a drowned rat.

Born and bred in Seattle, I always look forward to the rain after another temperate, pleasant summer. It makes me a little sad, but the world makes more sense when the gutters drip and the air smells like water and rusted metal.

P.S. Thunder and rain are taking on a much more destructive form in New Orleans tonight. My thoughts are with everyone still in the path of Hurricane Katrina.