Out of the way

This afternoon I thought maybe the black dog was coming back. I could feel him, more than see him, know that he had been walking the streets and sniffing in places I might have been.

It has been hot in Oslo for at least two weeks. Hot in the sun, hot in the shade. In the early evening the sun comes in my window and lies along my arm, until I can feel it burning me like a truckie. Moving is melting.

But this evening, the lightning started to flash as I got home. I parked my bike, and the thunder was rolling. I had a shower, caught a bus downtown, and ordered a beer before the rain started - at first great heavy drops, but so few of them. And then a steady medium rain, a couple of times slanting in a little, and then getting heavier.

It may have rained as long as an hour and a half - no more. A few hours later the skies are clear. But it washed the streets clean, and it washed away some of the pressure that had been building.

It seems I like the rain.