Day 78
Dear Diary,
We awoke again this morning to the sound of rain pattering against the bedroom window and the neighbor hammering away at his ark. We believe building an ark is a bit of an overreaction to a weather pattern, but we are willing to admit this rain is driving us all toward madness.
This morning in church, praise band members began playing “Healing Rain” but stopped when God-fearing Christians started pelting them with wadded up bulletins. Things got even uglier when the musicians cued up “He Reigns.” An attempt to re-establish order totally backfired when the band switched to “I’ve Got Peace Like A River.”
The pastor had prepared a message about Jesus walking on water, but delivered a homily on “the drought of the soul” after observing the praise band debacle.
A group of us went out for dinner after church but left without eating because some smart aleck ordered duck.
The dark mood of the people in this soggy little town has begun to match the darkness of the skies.
Women who previously would not have left their houses unless dressed to the nines have begun going out dressed to the sevens or even the sixes in some cases.
Day 79
Dear Diary,
We awoke again this morning to the sound of rain pattering against the bedroom window.
Jim and I have begun discussing moving to a brighter, more hopeful climate – perhaps Fargo.
We no longer feed the stray cat. She seems to be lost in the tall grass wilderness behind the house we used to call “lawn.” We can hear her, but we can’t see her.
Day 80
Dear Diary,
We awoke again this morning to the sound of rain pattering against the bedroom window.
The hammering on the ark has stopped. Either the ark is finished or the neighbor has succumbed to despair.
We’ve seen no one on the bike path for seven days. The birds in the park have stopped singing. Maybe they’ve left — or drowned?
Day 81
Dear Diary,
We awoke again this morning to the sound of rain pattering against the bedroom window.
I found this line from a poem scratched on a public bathroom wall, “Be strong now because things will get better. It might be stormy now, but it can't rain forever.”
Day 82
Dear Diary,
We awoke this morning to sunshine.