Rain

   It's rained here on and off in north west Crete for the past ten days. The night skies were frequently on fire with electricity created by spears of fork or layers of sheet lightening. The wind howled while leaves and broken branches from the trees swirled around the place. We're happy to have rain at last because we'd begun to long for it as the final dry and hot days of summer drew to a close.
   Outside in the garden there are pools of water to be seen everywhere. And the trees look glorious, green and refreshed. The olive farmers are rejoicing because the rain is good for plumping up the fruit. Bougainvillaea still blooms along our lane and the sheep in surrounding fields munch wet lush grass and herbs.
   Our youngest cat, who was born in the dry season came home this morning drenched and crying loudly. She'd never encountered rain before. When our other cats saw her being dried with an old towel, they lined up to be dried too -- even though they hadn't been outside at all! We called this tiny kitten --( rescued from a thorny ditch) Mini. She was so sweet and so small that it was obvious she was a girl. When the vet told us that Mini is in fact a boy we laughed, she couldn't be, could she? She was and she is. Her revised name is Mini Haw Haw.