Today, I observed rain moving in. All it took was being aware of the clouds and the weather, while doing other things.
The clouds were visible in the southwest when I got up. Sunrise was still beautiful and sunny. The band of clouds got darker during my morning computer time, but didn’t really come much closer.
When I walked to work after breakfast, I actually saw the sun peeking through in the northeast. The clouds still hung in the southwest. I could smell a funny, wet, metalic scent just before reaching work, riding in on a gust. Yes, rain was close.
And yet, it took another three hours before it actually started to rain at my location.
In the radar, it’s obvious why. There’s a band of rain that moves mostly north rather than west, and it reaches practically across all of Germany. Lots of it is to the south of me. The rain isn’t going to stop quickly, that’s for sure, but it’s also not raining hard.
I love being so aware of the weather. I love being close to nature.
I believe that people who spend much time outside simply have to be aware like that. Farmers, for example. Hunters, hikers, rangers, and bird watchers, of course, but also dragonriders, heroes riding out to their quest and other characters in stories regardless of genre.
And that’s why it pays for an author to be aware.
