The Very Hot Day

 

 

            Even deep in the forest, a hot day is a hot day. Summer had come in for real in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
            Our forest brethren have no trouble with rain, snow, cold, or wind. But it must be admitted that those profoundly deep and expansive hairy bodies are not proof against heat.
            It was only mid-June, not that Ralph keeps track of our calendar like that. He just knew summer when he felt it.
            He was stretched out on his cedar log, eyes closed. Both of his arms hung down on either side of the log so that just his finger tips touched the forest earth. He waggled them a bit. Just making sure.
          The sounds of the forest were dreamy, damped down. He heard the usual small hums of insects. Once in a while a bird would say something. The chirping chorus of spring was no more.
            Since he was just lying there doing nothing else, he sent his perceptions out further. Deer in their resting places panted quietly, waiting for evening. Even the rabbits were laying low.
            He heard the river, and with its rush, he heard the happy shouts of Twigg and Cherry and the calm words of Ramona. Good. It did him good just to hear them at their play.
            Ralph swung his legs over to the side facing the Clearing and sat up. His head swam a bit. It was stifling in the heated air. He shook his big head, trying to clear his sleepy mind. He looked at his feet. He often gazed upon his own feet while thinking. They were reassuringly wide, long and hairy. He waggled his toes and sighed.
            A familiar creature plopped down on his shoulder. He hadn’t even heard her coming down out of the trees.
            “Nice weather, huh Boss,” said Maeve. Even she seemed slowed, droopy, decreased somehow.
            “You noticed,” yawned Ralph.
            “Even up there where I hang out, it’s too hot, Ralph,” said she. “Look at those cats!”
            There Bob and Berry were, melted into forest duff, eyes closed, under some ferns. Their sides barely moved.
            “I see them, Birdie,” said Ralph.
            Looking outward into the trees, he almost saw a kind of mist, as if the very soil was giving up its moisture.
            “Can you do anything, Boss,” said Maeve. She tipped her head, regarding him with a bright black eye. Sometimes Maeve got ideas.
            “I could just go get into the river. So could you, Madam,” said Ralph.
            “No, I think the forest could use a break,” said Maeve. Her eyes glittered. “I don’t swim, Ralph. Come on!”
            He had to laugh. He knew darn well that Maeve was not a swimmer. But, he was working this out logically with her for backup.
            “Would you like to try something? I have an idea,” said Ralph.
            He even looked different, charged somehow. He was smiling now.
            “Sure, Boss. You know me,” whispered Maeve.
            “Let’s try calling The Storm,” said Ralph.
            “How will we do it,” asked Maeve.
            “I will sing it, and you will dance it,” said Ralph. He wasn’t sure how she would do that, but he knew she would try it.
            “Let’s do Distant Thunder first,” he said.
            It was wordless, but it sounded like thunder. It rolled and rumbled, just like thunder. Maeve flew in tight little circles above his head. She flashed her wings about, uttering raven croaks. Then both stopped to listen.
            At first it didn’t sound like anything. But after a few minutes there was a true rumble in the sky way downhill, maybe clear out over the Sound. Yes. Thunder. Bob and Berry heard it and picked up their heads. Their eyes opened expectantly.
            Ralph nodded at Maeve. “Let’s try Wind next, Birdie!”
            Next he sang a breathy song, a song of changes and moving things. Maeve flew back and forth in great sweeping dashes. She even yelled, “Evermore!” a couple of times for good measure. Then, again, they stopped to listen.
            “Together,” said Ralph. “Wind and thunder together!”
            And there it was, a wind blew through the trees shifting anything moveable, poking around, getting under things, and still the thunder rumbled. But now it was getting closer.
            Ralph winked at Maeve and the puma bros.
            It was noticeably cooler in the forest.
            “Now, let’s call Rain,” said Ralph.
            This song was different. It held laughter and sounded particulate. There was a rattle to it.
            Maeve flew up high, then she bombed down in freefall, swooping upward at the last moment before hitting the ground, over and over.
            Both Ralph and Maeve listened closely then. Soon they heard the unmistakable sound of pattering. Big juicy stormy raindrops splattered them and kept coming, wetting everything down quickly. Bob and Berry stood up to watch, tails swinging in time to each other.
            “Nice storm, Boss!” said Maeve. Overhead there was a crack of thunder quite near, and a flash of lightning.
            “That was a good idea you had,” said Ralph. “I feel great!”
            Just then, Ramona and the kids came back from the river, laughing because of the sudden storm, and wind and rain. They were already soaking wet. More water didn’t hurt a thing of course.
            Ramona started building her fire back up. Twigg and Cherry sat near, watching.
            Ralph strolled down into the Clearing with Maeve on board.
            “That was a pretty sudden change in the weather, Ralph,” said Ramona. “Did you do that?”
            “No, Mona, I didn’t do that!” said Ralph. “But I did ask for it!”
            “Mhm, much as I thought,” said Ramona.
            They sat together, watching the fire and just enjoying the storm and the wind and rain.
            “When it gets hot again, Mona, I’ll come and swim in the river with you and the kids,” said Ralph, grinning like the big kid that he was.

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