White Ghosts

It continues to rain. Our yard is an overgrown jungle. The ground is so soaked that you sink down into mud when you step there. Better to stick to the sidewalk. There are crushed snails on the front steps, slick and slimy against the wet concrete. The boulders in the front yard glisten like satin, adorned by the rain. The parsley in our vegetable garden has mutated into a monster bush. It's frightening.

One good thing: the Calla lilies have decided to make their annual appearance. Usually, the view through my bedroom window is of dried-out weeds. Now there's a wilderness of tall green stalks dotted with splashes of white. Those are the Calla lilies: slim, tall and elegant. You can only see their upturned faces, white ghosts peering through a sea of green. Their whiteness stands out even more against the dark foliage and gray skies that surround them. It's a startling sight, but beautiful.