Friday, October 1, 2010

I love dragons



When it rains, it pours. At least it did yesterday - something like 6 or 7 inches of rain arrived during a thirty-six hour period. Wow. It was a thick, hot rain, fueled (or so the weather people said) by moisture from the Atlantic AND the Pacific, from the remnants of tropical storm Nicole, and from a front moving through. It was a quadruple whammy, it really was.

There was a tornado (in southern Maryland), severe thunderstorms, severe wind. In the midst of all the craziness yesterday morning, mysterious smoke began pouring up out of the manholes on H Street NE here in the District.

My, my.

Over-the-top weather like that means - to me - that dragons are about. I've written about dragons here before, so I won't go way into it. Briefly: I think dragons are forces of nature that somehow organize themselves, becoming greater than a sum of their parts. Big earthquakes mark the presence of earth dragons, hurricanes are a hybrid of water and air dragons, volcanic eruptions and thunderstorms are fire dragons.

If you're thinking, OMG Reya is such a nut case, well, you're probably right. Still, when I see eyebrows raising, eyeballs rolling around when I talk about dragons, I always ask people to look at this picture, an aerial view of the coast of Sri Lanka, taken just after the 2004 tsunami hit. You can very clearly see the water dragon in the picture. Its head is turned out to sea. You can even see scales - incredible capture. Yeah, I might be a few chips short of a fish dinner, but I'm not the first person to have a relationship with dragons, yes? C'mon. In many cultures around the earth throughout history people have known about dragons. It isn't just me.

Yesterday the drakes were out in force here on the east coast, above and below us. Whew, what a day! I love dragons, but I also respect their power and wildness. Hence I stayed indoors most of the day, cleaning house and making salmon curry for friends who came for dinner last night. And now, all of sudden, it's October. It's almost chilly out there, just like that. Snap.

Thanks my dragon friends, for whipping through and taking the last vestiges of summer up up and away! I'm so ready for October. Voila!

10 comments:

The Bug said...

Dragons seem to be as reasonable explanation as any - where do we think the smoke was coming from?

Salmon curry sounds really fabulous - but maybe not for breakfast. I'll think about it later :)

NanU said...

Dragons, indeed! I love them too. Am one, according to the Chinese!
Put out some chocolates for them (good chocolates, no hershey! that would backfire), and they might spare you their nastier tricks.

ellen abbott said...

dragons...an excellent name for the elementals.

Tessa said...

Oh yes - there be dragons. Here, there and everywhere. Extraordinary aerial photograph...the dragon is indeed visible.

Wonderful chatting to you at the ball last night...oh what a delight it all was. I'm still spinning.

Linda Sue said...

So that's where they live! I have wondered...Dragons in the sky, in the water, That's why I don't go outside ever.

Reya Mellicker said...

Linda Sue - ha ha!

Nancy I, too, am a dragon in Chinese astrology, born on New Year's Eve of the year of the dragon. No wonder I love them.

Tessa YES it was the best Willow Manor Ball ever. They get better every year. I can only imagine that Willow herself must be totally exhausted.

Smoke periodically billows up from underneath DC streets. No one can ever figure out a reasonable explanation. My explanation? DRAGONS!

Barbara said...

Well the dragons are hitting the Massachusetts coast today. Crazy wind over the past few days and now the wind and rain. I hope that the dragons take the humidity and heat with them when they make their exit! The photo you referenced was incredible!

Peace!

Peggy said...

Reya, that aerial picture blew me away! I've never ever seen anything like that. I can always trust that you'll show me something new (or something old in a new light) whenever I visit. I've missed you, friend. :-D

steven said...

willow's ball was so good!! i usually get holed up somewhere at parties - especially big ones - and make a small world unto itself. dragons!! wow i've read about them in all sorts of stuff, thought about them inside me sometimes but not really thought of their place inside the doing of very big events. it just makes sense doesn't it. steven

Pauline said...

I like the way you think. Dragons - of course!