A Cloudy Day

I woke early today, on purpose.  I was the only one awake in the house (well, the cats and the dog woke, too, to savor the early hour with me) and intended to sit quietly with a cup of coffee and a book.  Hoping to avert an interruption once I settled into the armchair, I opened the back door to let the dog out for a moment and saw...

Immediately, as always happens when I see a sky streaked with color, I was a child again hearing my mother or my grandmother chant the rhyme so old even Jesus knew it... Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning... Perhaps he learned it from his mother and grandmother as well... When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.'  And in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.'  (Matthew 16:2-3)  

By the time I finished my coffee and the first chapter of my book, only half an hour later, perhaps, the clouds were white against a cheerful blue sky.  By mid-morning I arrived at Gray Center for a meeting, where the clouds had called in reinforcements.  By mid-afternoon I left for home again under a dull gray sky.  Just now, as I finish writing this post, I hear the rain falling.