new life

when i came back to illinois in july, i found myself marveling every time i turned a corner in the car at how green everything was. living in a desert, where it gets green for about 2 weeks in the spring, the sight of green grass and green leafy trees was literally delightful to my eyes.
it rained here for 3 straight days, and for 24 hours straight at one point last week. as grateful as we were for the rain, we feared that we had skipped straight from summer into winter and lost out on the fall (which is usually only about 4 weeks long, but its a very pleasant 4 weeks). we started sleeping in sweatshirts and seeing our breath in our apartment, way too soon. on the one hand, we got 20% of the annual rainfall in 3 days, and on the other hand we were miserable.
but...
it warmed up. now, our confused earth is responding to the change in weather like it were spring. this is exciting. i saw green grass everywhere today (and by everywhere, i mean here and there in patches in vacant lots of dirt). the mountain across from our school, which is usually the color of a nice pair of dockers, was green. my eyes rejoiced. i sang about the green grass in an operatic voice all the way home from school (and i am not ashamed).
this green grass in emblematic of another change that has happened in our lives. jessey quit her job at the school. normally, you would think that the rain metaphor would fit in this situation. but in reality, the rain was a metaphor for her life while working and doing school full-time. she was suffering, dying really, on the inside. when she was asked to quit (a story that is better told in person), the grass began to grow again in her life. she's happy again, much like the desert ground after a good rain.
so now, surrounded by green grass outside and at home, we are looking ahead to the winter and wondering about what changes it will bring to us.