I sit on my front porch on a humid Texas day. The sun light dims as heavy dark clouds gather on the edge of the sky. I dash out to grab gardening tools from the yard. The warm day turns cool and the wind picks up. It tosses the tree branches back and forth in its power. Thunder rumbles in the distance. I scramble for the last shovel as fat rain drops plunk down one by one. By the time I am in my warm dry house my clothes drip with water. Not all my chores are done, but the most important one was. A few months ago I had my roof replaced. Before I had it replaced, when this same kind of storm would rip through the sky I would stare anxiously out the window hopping that it would not rain too much and the wind would not blow too hard so that my aged roof would not suffer additional damage. I would stare up at the weak spots with worry promising myself that before the next rain I would take care of things.

Now as I sit inside my warm dry home and throw my wet clothes into the laundry, I smile. I grab a steaming cup of coffee as sheets of rain come down sideways and the landscape outside turns blurry gray with thick rain. I sit down and click on a gentle lamp as the street outside rushes with streams of run off water. The flashes of light and loud crashes of noise no longer disturb me. My new solid roof warms my heart and gives me the peace of mind to sit down and call that friend I have meant to reach out to, and well, brag just a little on my new roof that has given me such a good afternoon.