Saturation

I woke up this morning to a rumble of thunder, our first spring storm. With my eyes closed, I could still see the lightning flashes. I counted to see how close the storm was; it came upon us quickly. I thought of my grandmother, who hated storms so much that she hid in her pantry/coat closet. She told me the thunder was really the angels in heaven bowling. I closed my eyes and went back to bed, a Saturday morning luxury.

A neighbor's flooded yard.
The fire hydrant is an innocent bystander.

In the past 12 hours, we've received nearly 3 inches of rain. As I write this, we are in the midst of another torrential downpour. Before this one and the last one, I took a quick walk in the neighborhood. It's gray and dreary but warm outside. The creek across the street is out of its northern bank and creeping rapidly into my neighbors' yards but is no danger to the houses. Other yards are flooded in spots. The ground squishes beneath my feet as I rescue a worm from the asphalt and place it on the grass. My sump pump in my basement churns out water regularly. This area of Ohio used to be a swamp, and every so often, we get a reminder about that.

The earth can take more, but I feel saturated.

First crocus in bloom
in my front yard.

I braved the grocery store last night, an anxiety-inducing errand on a non-pandemic day. When I came home, I was completely exhausted. I didn't sanitize my groceries because I don't have a stockpile of disinfecting wipes. The ones I have are carefully rationed for cleaning doorknobs, refrigerator doors, credit cards, keys, and my cell phone after said outings. Of course, I turned to Facebook and Twitter where most of it is now a constant repeat of sanitizing your groceries, memes about social distancing, criticizing inept national leadership, dire curves, and my least favorite, horror stories from healthy thirty-something people who have COVID-19. I'm not really reading any of this or letting it soak in anymore; I just scroll like the water from the creek rushes by. Unlike Mother Earth, I think I am reaching the saturation point.

In time, this saturated feeling will subside. It's probably good to take a break from mindless scrolling on a screen and see the world as it really is right in front of me.