On June 29, many residents of the D.C. area learned a new word: “derecho,” which is an intense windstorm. We were traveling in California when it hit, but were able to see the devastating results all over the internet and Facebook. During a time of record heat, the power outages throughout the area – which silenced air conditioning units, computers, refrigerators, ATMs, gas stations, and traffic lights – revealed how dependent our modern lives are upon electricity.
For most, the electricity is back, and the record heat is a memory, but the East Coast humidity is thick, exacerbated by a light morning rain. I thought today of J.D. Smith’s poem “Humid Continental” (from his book Settling for Beauty), which beautifully conveys the metamorphosis that such weather makes possible. Here’s an excerpt:
It is better to let moisture
work its way into things,
sheets of paper that curl
at the corners and revert
to ancestral scrolls,
a wooden door swelling
in its swollen doorjamb.
To open that door and walk out
would take a hard pull,
an act of will.
But it is better
to let unfurl from the wood
small, then greater fungi
shaped like trumpets and like drums.
Someone should attend their still recital.
Wonderful! Thanks for posting this!
Hi Marina! We were lucky to only read about the derecho – no damage to house, trees, or people. Hope you are all ok. Are you up for going to the artists’ salon on Saturday?