WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.519 Hollo. I welcomed stories all the time. Glad you are here, 2 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:10.039 Let's get into it. 3 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:12.759 Of all the towns in the narrow crook of the 4 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:17.600 Miller's River Valley, Riverfield is the most unapologetically picturesque. The 5 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:19.879 train let me off at a trim platform not far 6 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.280 from the main street, where every clapboard house boasted bowers 7 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:27.320 of pansies, ballooning hydrangers, and the sort of climbing roses 8 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:31.199 typically bred for envy. My bag was heavy with borrowed 9 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:35.520 books and notebooks, accouterments of a retired meteorologist who'd once 10 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:40.880 been happier chasing cumulonimbus than hotel pillows. That May morning, 11 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:44.000 I was supposed to be a guest lecturer at Riverfield's 12 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.840 annual flower festival, lured by the flattery of a library 13 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:51.240 talk and the memory of weather watching as childhood wonder 14 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:55.759 not work. What struck me first, even before the flowers 15 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:59.759 or the friendly hand painted welcome to Riverfield sign, was 16 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:03.359 a practical absence. The sky hung low and hazy, not 17 00:01:03.479 --> 00:01:06.359 quite threatening, but certainly full, with the promise of rain, 18 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:10.439 distinct at least to noses tuned for petrichor. The scent 19 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.519 curled up from the soil, edged with a certain greenness 20 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:16.400 you learned to trust after years in the field. Yet 21 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:19.840 as I wheeled my suit case down maple lane of umbrellas, 22 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:23.920 there was not a trace neary a slicker dangled outside, 23 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:27.040 not a single yellow poncho flapped on a shop rail, 24 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:30.519 and no child was being scolded for jumping in puddles, 25 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:34.159 not that there were puddles, of course. The pavement was 26 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:37.799 as mat dry as kiln fired clay. The only splash 27 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:42.400 of color provided by petals, not wet leaves. Every window 28 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:47.439 box bulged with violet and gold. The lawns shone, meticulously clipped, 29 00:01:47.719 --> 00:01:50.319 but lacking that muddy smudge at the base you'd expect 30 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:53.000 after a week of low pressure systems plaguing the region. 31 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:57.519 I found myself peering at fences, white picket everywhere, as 32 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.519 if expecting to see water stained wood or moss runnels. Instead, 33 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:05.920 everything looked postcard bright, yet as lush as river country gets, 34 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:09.759 the river itself was no trickle. Water tumbled over its 35 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:14.360 weir at a steady, robust pace. Brownish lines high along 36 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:17.560 the banks suggested it had pushed its limits recently, but 37 00:02:17.639 --> 00:02:21.039 there was no hint of chaos or flood damaged soil. 38 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:24.039 I set down my suit case in the shadow of 39 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:28.840 a massive dogwood jotted in my journal, remarkably green, unusually dry, 40 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:33.080 no gutters, no drain pipes, no rain barrels by the houses. 41 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.520 Must watch for overnight patterns due The scientist in me 42 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:40.759 felt itchy, grasping for precedent. Small towns form their own weather, 43 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:44.680 sometimes valley micro climates and all that. But a pocket 44 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:48.159 of endless sunniness with this kind of botanical success was 45 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:53.039 almost mathematically impossible. Maybe I thought I was picking at 46 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:55.520 a thread simply because I'd always found joy in the 47 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:59.479 odd outliers. Still, I made a private promise to note 48 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:02.719 what the local did or didn't do about the chance 49 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:07.080 of rain. These things, little lacuni in logic, were often 50 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:11.360 how the best discoveries began. The blossom ingreeted me with 51 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:14.199 the creak of old wood and the cliche aroama of 52 00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:19.319 baking scones. Missus Lyle, proprietor and first registrant on the 53 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:23.039 guest ledger for the Language of Weather Lecture, greeted me 54 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:26.960 at the door with hands still dusted in flower. Oh 55 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:30.120 you must be doctor Felix. Welcome back east. We've set 56 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:32.159 you up in the peony room, and there's mulberry jam 57 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:34.680 if you like it, she said, brightly, guiding me in. 58 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:38.199 Her attention, however, flickered constantly to the doorway, the tick 59 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.120 of a clock, the bustle of festival week. We're so 60 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:43.680 lucky with the weather always just right for the petals. 61 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.719 You'll see the festivals a marvel. Did you manage to 62 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:49.560 bring a hat? Not for rain? Of course, suns are 63 00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:53.000 culprit here, she laughed, a vague gesture at the sky. 64 00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:57.599 You're in for a treat. I brought my suit case 65 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:01.759 through a parlor decorated with garlands of paper daffodils. Sunlight 66 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:06.759 slanted across polished floors. Outside the window, children chased each 67 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:10.039 other in the shade of a cherry, their skipping ropes flashing. 68 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:13.599 Don't let anyone tell you we haven't earned it, missus 69 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:18.160 Lyle continued, Lose yourself on Maine. Everyone's out sprucing up 70 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:22.360 for the riverside banquet. No ugly days allowed, she added, 71 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:27.399 half mocking and half sincere. Not this weekend. Main Street, 72 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:30.120 just down from the inn was putting on its very best. 73 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:34.680 A florist's shop spilled buckets of peonies, to the curb. Harriet, 74 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.720 the florist and the heart of local rumor, stood arranging 75 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.279 a wreath, chatting with whomever happened by. Her laugh was 76 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:45.040 sudden and contagious, her arms full of lilac stems. I'd 77 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:48.000 yet to see a raincoat or galosh among her supplies, 78 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:51.920 just baskets for flower petals and trailing ribbons of green. 79 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:56.879 A van logoed h Art w l S Dairy next 80 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:00.519 town over, pulled up to deliver crates. The driver, a 81 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:04.839 cheerful man in waterproof boots, joked with Harriet about muddy fields, 82 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:09.160 waving a battered umbrella as he departed. Harriet only wrinkled 83 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:14.240 her nose, politely brushing the subject aside. Children dashed between 84 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:19.199 tables carrying banner materials. Ellis unmistakable in his blue overalls, 85 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:22.800 balanced a step ladder, whistling off key while tying buntings overhead. 86 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:26.360 New record this year, he announced to no one in particular, 87 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:29.279 more gardens in bloom than I can count, not a 88 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:32.519 single petal flattened by the weather. Not here, he caught 89 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:35.279 my eye. You from the big city. You just wait. 90 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:39.759 Riverfield's flowers stand tall for a reason, ask Harriet. She's 91 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.199 the keeper of all things blooming on the west edge 92 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:47.040 of the green, the river glimmered. Teenagers lolled beneath willows, 93 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:51.199 two little ones building boats from bark. Church bells rang 94 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:55.519 bouncing in layers over the rooftops. The church steeple itself 95 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:59.120 was practically a sun dial in the morning haze, I 96 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:03.879 made my way past the neatest row of shops, bookstore, bakery, hardware, library. 97 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:08.600 The library was my eventual destination, neat colonials, white with 98 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:13.279 pale blue trim outside. Ben sat beneath a makeshift archway. 99 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.480 He was younger than i'd pictured, a wild mop of 100 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:19.920 brown hair, and a gaze that darted cheerfully over the world. 101 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:25.000 He recognized me before I introduced myself. Doctor Felix, the 102 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.399 weather sleuth has landed. He beamed, carrying a box of 103 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:32.279 garden history artifacts, just in time to see riverfield in 104 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:36.600 full glory. He pressed a pamphlet into my hand. Gardens 105 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:41.639 through the Ages twentieth Annual display. I grinned, do you 106 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:45.759 always plan your festivals for perfect weather? There's never a 107 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:48.879 bad one. Ben replied, as if confusion at the notion 108 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:53.040 was embedded in local DNA sunshine and dew. What more 109 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:56.360 could we ask? His smile deepened. If you have time, 110 00:06:56.519 --> 00:07:01.519 I'll show you the antique watering cans inside used ceremonial. 111 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:06.360 I suppose people prefer the Knight's gift around us. Public 112 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:11.000 conversation rotated. Lucky to live here, said a passerby. Perfect 113 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:14.600 for the camellias, as always, said another. In the shade, 114 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:18.560 old timers sipped iced tea, observing the procession of color 115 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:22.160 at the river. Women in sun hats laid out table 116 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:25.480 cloths and platters for tomorrow's banquet. A pair of young 117 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:28.600 parents tied ribbons to a little bridge, laughing as a 118 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.639 gust flipped the end into the water, salvaged by a 119 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:35.399 grinning child reaching from a low stone step. The river 120 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:39.040 was high, but not dangerously so. The banks bore the 121 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:42.959 scarring of waters, regular encroachment, and wild flowers grew right 122 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:47.519 up to the edge. One neighbor from Hartwell carried grocery bags, 123 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:50.639 chatting with a local about awful rain delays on the 124 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:55.240 main road. But the riverfield woman only smiled, saying you're 125 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:59.079 in the sun, now enjoy it. No hint of sarcasm 126 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:03.839 passed between them. Peering around, I saw no public rain shelters, 127 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:07.480 no umbrella stands. A white wooden welcome sign at the 128 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:12.639 entrance to Maine proffered perpetual sunshine, friendly faces, finest gardens. 129 00:08:13.399 --> 00:08:16.600 The phrase struck me as poetic license, not fact, but 130 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:20.519 a memory niggled. I'd studied precipitation records for the region, 131 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.519 and certainly this was a variable part of the state. 132 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.040 At my room that night, I unpacked clothes, careful to 133 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.279 check the weather on my phone. Seventy two degrees f, 134 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:35.960 partly cloudy, fifteen percent chance of evening showers. But there 135 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.559 was no sign the town was preparing for wetness of 136 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:43.480 any kind, not in conversation, not in ritual. Perhaps that 137 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:48.000 was normal here. Small towns run on idiosyncratic logic. But 138 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:52.120 I scribbled another note before bed. Floral abundance plus no 139 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:57.279 rain gear equals contradiction. Look for gutter runoff barrels. Ask 140 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:02.159 tomorrow day broke on payanes wreathed in sun. The cafe 141 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:06.799 across the street beckoned with a sign fresh scones, local berries. 142 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:10.759 A chalk sketch of a sun wearing sunglasses presided over 143 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:14.279 the menu. Ben greeted me as I finished coffee, eager 144 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:17.799 to show me the festival displays filling the library's main hall. 145 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:21.679 I was half way to the library, distracted by polished 146 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:25.000 windows and baskets of irises, when my shoes scuffed against 147 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.960 brickwork in front of the bakery. The brick was dark, 148 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.200 almost slick, running half a shade deeper than the sun 149 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:35.120 warmed sidewalk. No one was watering the hanging baskets, and 150 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:38.320 there was no down spout near by, just freshly arranged 151 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:42.799 crocuses and a line of clean flagstones. I knelt, tracing 152 00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:45.799 the cool damp with a finger. It was not a 153 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:48.159 trick of shadow, nor so far as I could tell, 154 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:52.039 the result of a misplaced beverage. The air was still, 155 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:57.200 but the scents petal earth damp were richer here inside, 156 00:09:57.320 --> 00:10:02.200 Harriet was counting coins at the register. Blueberry scone warmed 157 00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:06.480 for you. I nodded, then played my card quick question. 158 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:09.120 If I want to buy an umbrella just in case, 159 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:13.360 or a poncho, Where would I find one? Harriet paused 160 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:16.799 hand half way between till and jar. She gave a smile, 161 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:21.039 but it was tentative umbrella. She repeated, Oh, you must 162 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:24.879 be thinking of somewhere else. Her tone suggested I'd misremembered, 163 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.039 my own needs. None of that around here, she said, 164 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:32.000 with cheerful certainty. Not worth the bother, nothing ever comes 165 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:35.879 of it. I forced a grin. You never know New 166 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.960 England showers love a surprise, she shrugged with a laugh. 167 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:44.440 We don't get those, not really. Spring nights are kind. Now. 168 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.799 If you need a sun hat, I have just the basket. 169 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:51.200 I thanked her, but curiosity was gnawing. I drifted outside 170 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:55.960 to examine Riverfield's official sign its painted sunbeam perpetual suncheon 171 00:10:56.279 --> 00:10:59.080 felt less boast and more decree. I ambled a long 172 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:03.679 Maine again, scrutinizing infrastructure. No storm drains. At any corner 173 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:07.159 near the library were two half buried antique iron grates, 174 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:10.799 both choked with petals, neither leading to any visible system. 175 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:14.240 For a town so defined by its gardens, and for 176 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:19.159 a river familiar with overflow, such neglect was odd. That evening, 177 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:22.759 over dinner, I prodded my memory for references in years 178 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:27.960 of meteorological notes or anecdotal reports to inclement weather in Riverfield. 179 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:32.080 Nothing surfaced but silence and sun. The most detailed mention 180 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:37.080 I found in state records was pleasant mild community festival 181 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:41.480 as scheduled. I solved the menu trout with green beans 182 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:46.159 and made another note before bed rain never acknowledged impossible 183 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:51.759 observe Overnight, I drifted through a faint discomfort, smoothed by 184 00:11:51.799 --> 00:11:55.720 the lull of crickets. Late, I roused myself for a walk. 185 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:00.000 The gardens by lamplight, shimmered, Each leaf host and astersay 186 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:03.600 rose held a heavy, perfect bead of water, arrayed not 187 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:06.120 like dew, but as if laid there by the hand 188 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:09.480 of a steady shower. The lawns glittered, and a thin 189 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:12.840 mist hovered just above the tulips. I flicked a drop 190 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:17.480 between fingers. It pooled and slid. I circled the block, 191 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:22.639 detouring past the cafe. The owner, Oliver meditative sporting suspenders 192 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:26.000 over a white shirt, was closing up. I asked, lightly 193 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:28.879 bit of a wet patch, pointing at the low curb. 194 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:33.240 Is that from the pipes? He considered it only a moment, 195 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.799 then waved a dismissive hand. Trick of light. Dew gathers 196 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:41.320 in funny places. Nothing but the night's blessing, he said, 197 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:46.120 locking the door. I continued, passing the hardware store window 198 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:50.480 display trowels, gloves, herb seed, packets and a cheerful placard 199 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:55.080 Shine on Riverfield. No rain coats, no waders, not even 200 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.720 a tarp on special. I returned to the inn, thinking 201 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:03.759 myself tired, perhaps misreading the signs. My phone pinged a 202 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.960 message from an old colleague, Jane, now at the regional 203 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.799 weather station in Hartwell. Suppose to be a wet week, 204 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:14.120 prepping for rain on Thursday. What's it like your way? 205 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:18.399 My reply took longer than it should have. Sunny as ever, 206 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:23.039 local roses think they're in provas. The next afternoon, I 207 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:26.519 slipped into the public Library's upper reading room, a sunny nook, 208 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:30.799 its walls hung with children's paintings of daffodils. Old yearbooks 209 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.960 lined one shelf. Leather bound weather logs were kept in 210 00:13:34.039 --> 00:13:37.679 narrow boxes. Leafing through, I found that whether notations were 211 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:42.720 at best impressionistic, clear, pleasant, brisk air, sun light, breeze, 212 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:47.279 no precipitation amounts, no notations for storms or even minor showers. 213 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:52.440 Archive years had gaps missing, perhaps or never filled. Ben 214 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:57.200 bustling by with another box paused, you're after newspaper weather columns. 215 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:01.200 There's some from the old gazette, though not updates in years. 216 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:05.799 I leafed further and found nothing but bouquets, fair parade winners, 217 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:10.480 festival dates, references to clear mornings and night air. No 218 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:13.519 one on record had called out a rainy day, even 219 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:16.919 for a joke. I pressed the question, it's odd. Do 220 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:21.120 you ever recall a festival being delayed for rain? Ben 221 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:24.759 looked thoughtful now, I think the year the mayor caught 222 00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:27.960 the flu. We worried, but sun came through anyway. The 223 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.080 gardens never seemed to go thirsty. We have due each 224 00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:34.639 morning a gift. The roses are evidence enough, don't you 225 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.120 think The market next morning pulsed with the scent of 226 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:42.080 mint and marigled. Stalls from Hartwell and father Afield sold 227 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:47.159 fruit honey jams. One vendor from Well outside Riverfield joked 228 00:14:47.159 --> 00:14:50.519 with a friend about arriving sopping after an unexpected downpour. 229 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:55.679 The town's faces smiled, but no joke returned. It slid past, 230 00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:59.679 as if the punch line didn't translate. I listened for 231 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:03.919 any note of rain in the chatter, found none. Curious, 232 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:07.639 I tracked down Missus Duprey, rumored to have grown Riverfield's 233 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:11.000 prize lilies for thirty years. She sat on a bench 234 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:14.200 with her tabby her son hat wobbling with every nod. 235 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:19.360 Your garden is magnificent, I said, does it take much watering? 236 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:22.120 How do you manage without a heavy rain this time 237 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:26.440 of year? She giggled, the sound low and secretive, shaking 238 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.879 her head. Magic, I suppose, laugh if you must. The 239 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:33.759 gardens listen, and the night air does the rest always enough. 240 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:36.759 We've been lucky so long. No one bothers to fuss. 241 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:41.559 Her eyes twinkled, daring perhaps or softening the hint of denial. 242 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:45.799 Children near by began skipping over the bricks by the bakery, 243 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.440 the same patch I'd noticed before. The shoes splashed in 244 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:53.240 a small pool. Giggles unraveling in the air. Bet the 245 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:56.879 wind did it last night? One called, Another bent low, 246 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:02.039 sniffing the air above the stones smells nice. I strolled 247 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:05.519 after checking the river's state. The water was neither dry, 248 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:10.440 creek nor dangerous. Torrent banks were oddly sculpted, flattened grass 249 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:13.720 running right down to the edge. A muddy line marked 250 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:18.000 a rise in water, recent maybe, but no fresh tire tracks, 251 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:22.399 no evidence of sand bagging. I traced up stream past 252 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.600 a copse of maple on the fringe of town. No dam, 253 00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:29.360 no sign of engineering to regulate river flow. Yet the 254 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.639 grass and undergrowth bore marks, pressed, slick, striated, as though 255 00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:36.360 by a passing current that no one seemed to have witnessed, 256 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:42.639 let alone mentioned, quiet but undeniably real. Late into the evening, 257 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:46.360 the gardens hunkered under mist. Early morning fog crept down 258 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:48.960 the alleys so thick I felt its touch, cool on 259 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:53.720 my face. By sunrise, beads clung to every stem, dew, 260 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.840 they called it, but it was too much, too uniform 261 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:01.200 for dew alone. The threads refused to touch together. This 262 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:04.960 was more than a town ignoring the occasional storm. It 263 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:09.079 was a seamless performance, a shared refusal to see or remember, 264 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:14.160 so complete it engulfed every casual conversation, every ledger and record. 265 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:18.599 I spent an hour that afternoon copy editing my own motives. 266 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:23.160 Perhaps I was chasing shadows. Years in climate science make 267 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:27.359 one prone to attributing mystery to wilful ignorance rather than 268 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:31.519 tradition or vice versa. But the evidence was too physical 269 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:35.480 to chalk up to mere semantics. Papers spread before me, 270 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:40.039 I outlined what I'd witnessed, not denial, not exactly superstition, 271 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:44.680 a persistent communal reality, a forgetting more powerful than a lie. 272 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:49.160 I thought of cultures who rewrite memories after disaster, towns 273 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:53.079 that scrub trauma from history to booze that shape generations. 274 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.759 But always some folk memory persists. I sought out Ben 275 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:00.920 in the library's archive room. He wascking up a display 276 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:06.319 Riverfield's rarest Roses nineteen thirty five present. The light pooled 277 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:10.200 soft on stacks of antique watering cans, never used, he'd said, 278 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:14.359 tagged and labeled as ceremonial. I set my notes aside 279 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:18.759 and decided not to couch my curiosity. Ben, do you 280 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:22.279 remember the last time it rained here? He looked at me, 281 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:28.079 eyebrows climbing rain here? Yes, I said, carefully, A real 282 00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:32.240 falling rain, the kind that soaks coats, needs umbrellas, makes 283 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:37.400 you duck and run. Ben hesitated, measuring my tone. I well. 284 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:41.799 His smile flickered. A new uncertainty clouded his usually direct stare. 285 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:45.400 Not that I can recall. I suppose, well, it must 286 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:48.640 have happened the gardens thrive. But no, not since I 287 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:52.279 was a boy, and even then, no, just moist mornings 288 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:57.200 and clear afternoons. He seemed surprised by himself, searching his 289 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:02.799 memory and finding not blanks, but an odd velvet's surface, smooth, impenetrable. 290 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:07.759 The day crept onward, I attended the festival openings, chatted 291 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:11.839 with teachers, heard from students about home work, botany, and poetry, 292 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.599 rarely climate. Harriet gave me a posy for my lapel, 293 00:19:15.880 --> 00:19:20.839 whispering blessed with sun and gentle dew. As always, in 294 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:24.359 a quiet moment beside the river, I found myself thinking 295 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:29.680 not just about weather, but about unspoken agreements. In some communities, 296 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:34.079 after disaster strikes, there's a spoken or unspoken decision about 297 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:38.200 what can or cannot be named. Silence covers wounds like moss. 298 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:43.319 Was riverfield built on such ground? Something lost, something never spoken. 299 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:48.200 I checked again for patterns, the gardens, the dew rituals, 300 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:52.039 the festival's tight schedule. If these were part of the forgetting, 301 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:55.319 then perhaps the answer was not to look for rain's evidence, 302 00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:59.680 but for its deliberate omission. I resolved to test it, 303 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:04.160 not just observe, but bare witness. That night, I set 304 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:07.559 my alarm for the hour just before dawn, the traditional 305 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:11.359 time for dewfall, and in my mind, the likeliest window 306 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:15.319 for something stranger. I crept into the hall, pulled on 307 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:18.720 boots and stepped outside the inn onto the narrow back lane. 308 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:23.039 The air bristled with moisture. Somewhere a gutter dripped, though 309 00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:26.559 I knew none lined this building. I turned the corner 310 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.599 and heard it, a quiet but unmistakable gurgle. I watched 311 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:34.319 as fat drops pooled and ran from every edge. Barrels 312 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:38.279 placed by the church steps brimmed flower petals slicked themselves 313 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:41.519 to the walkway stones, colors made more vibrant by their 314 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:45.839 watery skin. And not fifty feet down, Missus Lyles stepped 315 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:48.960 through a shallow puddle by the entry, barely noticing the 316 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:52.799 spray that arked from her heel. Another resident met her there, 317 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:56.039 an old man with an armful of table cloths. For 318 00:20:56.119 --> 00:21:00.319 a moment, they both eyed the puddle, then exchanged greetings. 319 00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:04.119 Neither commented there was an art to it, this refusal 320 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:07.480 to see. Farther off, at the old white Church, I 321 00:21:07.559 --> 00:21:11.920 found the marquis letters freshly changed to read flower festival 322 00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:15.960 rain or shine. It made me pause on my route back. 323 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:19.119 Fifteen minutes later, I glanced again. All it said now 324 00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:24.319 was flower festival shine. I picked up a dropped festival 325 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:28.039 program from the grass, now sodden at the corners. No 326 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:31.680 one else gathered them, and by midday the street was immaculate. 327 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:35.920 I slipped into the library while the festival crowd drifted 328 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:39.400 in for games and song. I asked Ben if he'd 329 00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:43.839 seen the event programs left outside. Must have gotten caught 330 00:21:43.880 --> 00:21:46.640 in the morning air. He said, with a breezy shrug. 331 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:49.480 You can't trust the wind to be kind to paper. 332 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:53.880 I pressed further. Has any festival ever been rained out? 333 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:57.720 He grinned, as if at a running joke. We plan 334 00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:02.440 for shine. That's the river Field, where more questions clustered 335 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:04.640 at the edge of my mind. I turned to the 336 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:09.160 local paper archives. Headline after headline celebrated full flower beds, 337 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:13.720 records broken for blooms struck by morning freshness. Never the 338 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:19.359 words rain, delay, inclement, or storm. By late afternoon, my 339 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:22.559 own journal was the only record in town. It seemed 340 00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:26.759 daring to say the word rain falls, but never in memory. 341 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:30.720 Is it denial when life thrives? Or is it something deeper, 342 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:34.640 a wilful forgetting cast by fellowship and routine? Does it 343 00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:38.839 even matter, so long as everything grows? I looked again 344 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:42.640 at Riverfield, not as a simple outlier, a data error, 345 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:46.279 or a place with odd weather. Its anomaly was woven 346 00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:50.119 tightly into habit, memory, and a collective agreement that I, 347 00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:52.640 as a visitor, could only see by standing in the 348 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:57.279 doorway between record and reality. Not just a semantic dance, 349 00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:01.720 but a way of safeguarding beauty forgetting, perhaps as gentle 350 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:05.079 as the dew that always comes, so that each morning 351 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:08.640 the world can be lovely new and untouched by storm. 352 00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:13.559 The following morning, uncertainty kept me from sleeping past first light. 353 00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:17.000 My mind had entered a sort of scientist's fever, a 354 00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:20.960 need not just to observe again, but to measure. At dawn, 355 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:24.240 I padded down the creaking stairs of the inn, careful 356 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:27.720 not to wake missus Lyle, whose customary scone trays would 357 00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:31.680 already be cooling beneath Gingham covers. I took from my 358 00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:35.920 case a handful of small tools, a rain gage borrowed 359 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:38.839 for show and tell at the festival, and the aluminium 360 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:41.920 basin I'd used for mixing test solutions in the past. 361 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.599 I left both in the court yard, the gauge tucked 362 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:49.160 discreetly among the peony beds the basin where sun would 363 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:53.440 find it first. Mists swirled over the roof tops, dense 364 00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:57.319 and radiant with possibility, while the flower beds sparkled. My 365 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:00.599 hands lingered over leaf and bud, half hope to catch 366 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:03.799 nature in the act a theater. Before the curtain dropped, 367 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:08.160 everything was damp, every edge beaded with water. I bent 368 00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:11.759 to touch the pavers. They were slick, darkened, silent on 369 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:14.079 the question of whether it had been rain or only 370 00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:18.079 another trick of the riverfield night, a door creaked open. 371 00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:21.759 Missus Lyle sleep, tousled and cheerful in her dressing gown, 372 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:25.440 stepped out with a tray. She stopped short, gaze caught 373 00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:28.480 by the basin, now a shallow mirror, and the rain gage, 374 00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:33.160 its cylinder brimming. She tutted, voice bright but distracted heavy 375 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:36.799 dew last night, it washes everything clean. Funny how it 376 00:24:36.839 --> 00:24:40.319 collects like that? Best not let the boarders track it inside. 377 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:43.599 She wiped the inside of the basin with a quick, 378 00:24:43.799 --> 00:24:47.759 practiced sweep of her towel. Her eyes didn't linger. I 379 00:24:47.880 --> 00:24:51.960 watched the familiar gesture, the way acceptance slipped over observation, 380 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:57.079 rendering the evidence moot almost before it was seen. At breakfast, 381 00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:59.880 I tried to press the issue gently, mentioning the g 382 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:03.400 you had been enough to overfill the inn's largest water ink, 383 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:08.079 and by morning missus Lyle smiled, our night air is generous. 384 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:11.319 That's true. I do think we're special in little ways, 385 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:14.960 don't you. It wasn't denial. It was as if the 386 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:18.680 boundary between whether and custom was maintained not by ignorance 387 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:22.880 or avoidance, but by shared instinct. Each time the topic 388 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:27.680 threatened to strike two directly, the townsfolk redirected or reinterpreted, 389 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:32.799 threading every answer with fondness. The subjects slipped away, not hidden, 390 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:37.319 but absorbed. Later that morning, as the festival spilled down, 391 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:41.160 Maine and garden tour convened. Beneath bunting and blossoms, I 392 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:44.319 encountered a pair of hikers at the cafe. Their boots 393 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:49.640 were muddy jackets slung over chairs, their orders coffee, black eggs. 394 00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:52.400 If you have em had the breathless tenor of people 395 00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:56.680 used to open sky. I nudged my way into their conversation. 396 00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:01.640 You come from heartwell, I asked, the older of the two. Nodded, 397 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:06.119 scanning me through wirerimmed glasses. Beautiful walk over, but we 398 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:08.720 had to wait out a thunderburst by the post road. 399 00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:11.559 You should have seen it, hail, for a minute, then 400 00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:14.640 just sheets coming down. He tipped his mug in a 401 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:19.119