A clap of thunder announced its arrival. With enthusiasm I walked toward my patio door and opened the drapes. The usual cloudless sky was replaced with ominous clouds. The horizon became brown, and white specs swirled in the air off in the distance I smiled as I finally would be able to witness an Arizona rainstorm and a monsoon no less.
I remember fondly when I was eight years old how I spent my youth in Wisconsin playing in the fields during a summer rainstorm. The smell of rain filled the air and the aroma of wild flowers and fresh cut wet grass surrounded me. I often spent time in the cornfields playing army in the rain. I would imagine the enemy surrounded me while I slithered on my stomach with my imaginary gun across my arms and I slowly made my way through the rows of corn and through the mud and broken stalks that littered the ground.
Once I would get home my mother would nearly have a heart attack as she looked at my dirty rain soaked clothes. With dried mud on my face I gave her my puppy eyes which never worked. She grabbed my arm and threw me into the bathroom. She ripped all my filthy clothes from my body and washed off the dirt and mud then took a large towel that enveloped me and began to dry me off. She would then put new clothes on me and throw me back out into the elements.
She would shout "this time stay out of trouble!" I never understood what she meant by that?
Another loud boom brought me back to the current storm, and I waited in anticipation for it to end. When the brown sky was replaced by aquamarine and the sun made its reappearance I walked outside after the heavy rain. Just before I slid open the door I thought back to the wonderful memories of the smells after a rain in my youth and I took a deep breath in as I stepped out. The aromas of a chemical factory and two large dairy farms that are adjacent to our subdivision filled my senses and I quickly covered my nose and ran back into the house.
I decided it is better to enjoy the Arizona summer after a rainstorm safe in my home.
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