Rain

 Day 6:

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. 

A typhoon is passing north of Taiwan bringing much needed rain. When we left Taiwan on June 1, Taichung was in the midst of the worst drought in over 50 years. The city was so desperate to conserve what was left in the reservoirs, water was  shut off for a consecutive 48 hours every week. Rainfalls during the month of June helped alleviate the restrictions. But it is the yearly typhoons that help provide this island with fresh water.

The roofs below my window (aka portal to the real world) are metal. The falling rain created a comforting sound in which to wake. In the darkness of the room, I felt my way to that magical portal. Sliding it open, my skin tingled as droplets of water splashed on the sill. A cool moist wisp of wind rushed into the stale air. I filled my lungs with a cleansing breath. It was a good way to start the day.

Later, from my portal to reality, a life and death drama played out. A mouse on a roof desperately tried to escape three marauding cats. In a last ditch effort to avoid capture, it jumped off the roof onto a nearby wall. Its hopes of freedom came crashing down when the cat in the lead also made the flying leap, snatching away the rodent's last chance of life.

Not everything from my opening to reality is quite as exciting. Most are just the ordinary, day-to-day happenings of city folk. A man hanging his laundry on his back balcony. A woman riding her scooter through the back alley. A rooftop garden.

Just the sounds coming through the open window help soothe away the aches of enforced isolation.

 The jackhammer remodeling a building next door. 

A police siren wailing off in the distance. 

The garbage truck playing its Beethoven's Fur Elise.

If you have ever stayed inside one room without leaving for 6 days, you may understand my unusual sentiments. If you have not, count yourself blessed!