Story Index:

Ao final
07/13/2014

Son in the sky
07/12/2014

Recife
06/27/2014

Impressions of Brazil
06/25/2014

Vida Dura
06/23/2014

Hawaii Fishing News - May 2013
05/01/2013

Un lugar para mi
09/09/2011

Crossed the border
08/18/2011

Quiero mas tiempo!
07/31/2011

Perched above Medellin
07/23/2011

Yay for a shower!
07/19/2011

New coast for me!
07/15/2011

The ocean calls
07/09/2011

Thick rain, freight train
06/26/2011

Tierra Dura
06/26/2011

Time to dry
06/24/2011

The next quarter century - on we go!
06/18/2011

Rolling with it
06/09/2011

Viviendo la vida
04/27/2011

You live and you learn: Adventures in Bureaucracy
04/12/2011

Snippets of Life - Part 4: La vida hermosa
04/08/2011

Snippets of Life: Part 3 - Las flores y los pájaros de Mindo
04/07/2011

Snippets of Life: Part 2 - An afternoon in Colonial Quito
03/30/2011

Snippets of Life: Part 1 - Fútbol en Argentina
03/27/2011

La diferencia principal entre Ecuador y Thailand
02/12/2011

Mi misíon por cada día
02/05/2011

Me gusta mi linea de trabajo!
01/28/2011

Mi primer fin de semana en Ecuador
01/18/2011

First off, let's catch up: Where's Whitney?
01/13/2011

Day BA
02/24/2009

What a year! 2008 in Review...
12/29/2008

Southeast Asia Superlatives (and not-so-Superlatives)
12/12/2008

One week in Cambodia
12/03/2008

Waterfalls, cliffs, and caves of beautiful Laos
11/09/2008

Beautiful, happy northern Thailand
10/31/2008

One amazing month on Koh Tao
10/24/2008

Daily mission on the islands: Enjoy life!
09/14/2008

Bangkok, Thailand
09/13/2008

Last week in France
09/05/2008

August 08 in Europe
08/24/2008

Failed Cape Melville
07/13/2008

Day trip to Bowen
06/25/2008

Part 3: Volleyball playoffs
06/15/2008

Part 2: Ultimate camping
06/15/2008

Part 1 of... many: FOLK FESTIVAL!
06/15/2008

My weekend of great vistas
06/02/2008

A glorious weekend on Magnetic Island
05/27/2008

Ugh. I'm exhausted.
05/02/2008

New Zealand... ROCKS!!!
04/30/2008

It's been awhile...
04/23/2008

Sushi night at the house
04/07/2008

Thanks for all the letters and mail!
04/01/2008

I finally got to dive the Great Barrier Reef!
03/31/2008

Blues Fest - Byron Bay
03/26/2008

The little things I realize I miss
03/18/2008

Bouldering trip
03/17/2008

Beach volleyball!
03/14/2008

I'M GOING TO THE BLUES FEST!!
03/11/2008

So many new animals!
03/08/2008

time for school
03/06/2008

Whitney saw a wallaby!!
03/02/2008

Pictures for my stories
03/02/2008

Just some observations
02/28/2008

Mailing address
02/27/2008

Rain in the tropics
02/25/2008

Townsville!
02/25/2008

We're finally in Australia!
02/23/2008

The Last Supper
02/16/2008
Thick rain, freight train

21 de junio, Estacion de Biodiversidad, Tiputini

Today, I experienced the arrival of a storm in a freight train of senses.

I sat in a wooden canoe in the middle of a lake in the Amazon rain forest. In the distance, thunder mumbled and tumbled across the dense land. The sky got darker, the air got thicker. The storm made no attempts to sneak up on me, but rather used a range of pathways to indicate its arrival, in a persistent and relentless manner. It urged me to pay attention to it all, to each aspect of its existence.

In a calm, quiet lake I sat. An unmistakable hush started from far off, moving decisively closer, growing and building quickly into a clamor, a rushing train headed straight for me, through the trees and washing over the green land. I knew it was arriving. I heard it arriving. Then I saw it arriving, sliding across the water from the bank, prickling the surface of the lake as it pressed towards me.

Then I felt it. It hit my skin, it pattered off my arms, it moved in lapping waves around me, gentle yet, but sure. Then the wind. It galloped over the treetops, stirring up excited energy, and swept me up in it. It swiped across the thick drops splattered on my skin, sunk into my clothes, soaked into my hair. It blew my energy around, lashing at my previous sense of calm. The tumbling thunder moved closer, grew stronger, and urged my little boat of surrendered appreciation decisively from the center of the lake to the embrace of the bank.

This was not a dramatic flash of monsoonal expression of Power. This was Power built thick and heavy. Arrival was not simply the first step of Departure. Arrival was the arrival of a guest that stayed and settled into the corner of the couch with its feet kicked up. There wasn't a Departure, the storm simply slowly and imperceptibly faded away after time - a heavy mist snaking away to the heavens and leaving a weighty blanket sitting over everything.

It was a magical experience that colored my day... and it was, I believe, the thickest rainstorm I have ever been in.

Amazon photo album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.864167170098.2372447.19700757&l=fbd26288a4


Posted by Whitney 06/26/2011, revised 06/26/2011 by Whitney
FreeStyle Journal 19.03.21
©2003-2011 by Dan Goodell

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