It has been so hot and dry here that yesterday evening, as the first bank of clouds in a week moved slowly past far to the north, the clear smell of rain drifted down to us on the twilight air.
There will be no rain for us.
At this hour, only a few white trace clouds scud across the distant sky. Indeed, most of what passes for clouds these days is nothing more than a heavy veil of smoke, that which is left over as Bonita Canyon goes up in flames. The earth is burning here, and the rains remain deaf to all entreaties.
We are getting close to the first official day of summer, although our world here earlier this week surrendered what spring we had to its grasp. We are getting close, too, to what would normally be the start of the monsoon season, although whether it will return, or leave us only with what winter and spring delivered, is anyone’s guess.
For now, we are thankful that the water came of its own free will, tumbling down the main ditch into the pond and out into the fields. It means that we will have hay for the horses in the short term, if nothing else. The lack of rain presents serious problems for planting, however, leaving us with earth the consistency of ash and old bones.
And so, while today’s featured work was already slated for this day, it now becomes more than simply an artistic highlight: It becomes supplication, invocation, a prayer for relief.
It’s fitting; even its name invokes precipitating spirits, even if the road of which it speaks today holds more hope than promise or reality. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
The Rain Road Cuff Bracelet
In the arid land of the high desert, the Rain Road is a place of fertility and abundance. Wings charts the path to this place of prosperity with this cuff wrought in the colors of rain and sky. It begins with four substantial strands of sterling silver triangle wire, soldered together into one smooth length like rainfall banded together in a single powerful torrent. At the top, offset from the center, a lightly beveled turquoise cabochon in the shade of the sky stretches to the four corners of the world. The stone is trimmed in twisted silver, and at one side, a tiny ingot silver raindrop opens onto the band, the birth of the storm as it cascades downward along its own flowing road. The band is 5/8″ across; the stone is 1/4″ across (dimensions approximate). Another view shown below.
Sterling silver; Sleeping Beauty turquoise
$725 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The hot season has only just begun; we have a long path ahead of us, one that this year promises to be made harder by heat and dust and the smoke of fires all too close. It’s a time for prayer, for honoring the Water Serpent and all those who hold the powers of precipitation, as we work to navigate the roads and rains of summer.
~ Aji
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