{"id":25499,"date":"2025-06-27T19:24:40","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T23:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/?p=25499"},"modified":"2025-06-27T19:24:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T23:24:40","slug":"and-the-rain-will-wash-it-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2025\/06\/and-the-rain-will-wash-it-away\/","title":{"rendered":"And the Rain Will Wash it Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><figure id=\"attachment_20303\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20303\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-20303 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/664\/2023\/07\/rain-g2ae1d961c_640-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"rain falling on green trees\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20303\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">image via Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>(A caution to my more sensitive readers: this story involves an injured animal, and a gun.)<\/p>\n<h3>The rain came back.<\/h3>\n<p>The heat wave ended\u2013 not in fire, not in ice, but in steam. The temperature dropped from ninety-five with a heat index in the three digits, to the high eighties and rainy every few hours. The rain made the earth simmer like a pot of rice. In between rains, Adrienne and I went outside. I pulled weeds, and she played with the cats.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2025\/06\/a-neighbor-on-a-dark-night\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Dodgers<\/a> did not come back, and they will not be coming back. I discovered that the mother fled the consequences of her actions, abandoning their last cat to starve until she came to me.\u00a0 The Artful Dodger himself, the girls I\u2019ve called The Sylph and The Mandrake, and that baby who sometimes wandered out of the house into my yard wearing nothing but a diaper, are gone. Eventually, I\u2019ll forget to worry about what will happen to them. Eventually, my heart will stop racing every time I glance up at the derelict where they used to live.<\/p>\n<p>I have two outdoor cats now: Charlie Chaplin, who is brash and feisty like The Sylph was, and Buster Keaton, formerly Sparkles, who is shy and gentle like The Mandrake. I don\u2019t know what we\u2019ll do in the winter, but they live on my porch for the moment.<\/p>\n<p>There is a new family in town, who moved in a few houses down from the Dodgers last month. Their boy and girl are only a little younger than my Adrienne. They all hang out in the yard, in between rains, making messes, missing the eleven-year-old Artful Dodger who was part of the gang. Last night, they all walked to the little grocery store on another block together. They came back with snacks and cans of soda. When I came out to weed the garden, they were enjoying them while sitting on the garage roof of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2024\/04\/a-haunted-house\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"> the haunted house<\/a>, which is built into the hillside of that backyard, only about four feet off the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Another rain storm was coming in, far off to the south moving north, instead of west to east as storms usually do. The teenagers watched the clouds, laughing and bantering with me as I pulled weeds. The guinea pig helped me tidy up the strawberry patch by nibbling the leaves under a laundry basket. Buster kept a curious eye on the pig, stalking her from between the tomato cages. Charlie prowled the yard, looking for something to chase.<\/p>\n<p>I pulled up two potato vines that had died off\u2013 not the vines I planted intentionally, but the ones that had sprung out of the compost. To my delight, there were three new potatoes among the roots. I filled my pocket with potatoes and my other pocket with sugar snap peas. I went into the kitchen to unload the day\u2019s harvest, smiling for the first time in days.<\/p>\n<h3>When I came out, to my shock, Charlie was playing with a bird\u2013 and the bird wasn\u2019t dead.<\/h3>\n<p>Charlie is the most inept bird cat. In the whole time I\u2019ve known her, I\u2019ve never seen her make a successful pounce. She usually leaps into the air a good second and a half after the bird has taken flight. But this time, she\u2019d got one. It was one of those big fat pigeons that ruin the gutters at our house and used to burst right through the ceiling at the Artful Dodgers\u2019 house. The pigeon was severely wounded, fluttering both gray-green wings to get away, as Charlie pinned her down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo! Charlie!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hoped the pigeon would fly away when Charlie let go, but she didn\u2019t. She just fluttered, helplessly, trying to catch the air at an odd sideways angle. The gash was a severe one, stretching from one shoulder to the other, and extending from the base of the neck far down the back. Yet it was shallow, and the bird was still alive, not resisting as I scooped her up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any way we can save it,\u201d I heard myself say.<\/p>\n<p>I never say things like that.<\/p>\n<p>I can\u2019t stand the thought of anything dying. I never give up on anything or anybody.\u00a0 I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2023\/11\/to-plant-a-white-oak\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">saved the white oak tree<\/a> when I was ten years old. I once <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2022\/01\/a-pagan-in-the-crick\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">saved a mudpuppy<\/a> from my bad cousins. I rescue<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2021\/06\/parable-of-the-spider\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"> spiders<\/a> from drowning in the lake. I re-plant<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2020\/06\/in-despair-in-resurrection-in-gardens\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"> dead plants<\/a> to see if they\u2019ll take root again. I take in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2025\/04\/the-god-who-knows-all-names\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"> abused cats<\/a>. I have tried so hard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2023\/05\/on-my-children\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">to rescue<\/a> so <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2025\/06\/a-neighbor-on-a-dark-night\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">many people. <\/a>The worst pain I have ever had is when I\u2019ve failed to rescue something. But there was no possible way to rescue this pigeon.<\/p>\n<p>I hoped against hope for the bird to die quickly in my hands\u2013 to take a few agonal breaths and go limp, so I\u2019d know she wasn\u2019t in pain anymore. But she didn\u2019t. She struggled and fluttered to take to the air, but her wings wouldn\u2019t work in tandem as I prayed<em>. Please, please, live or die, but don\u2019t do this.<\/em> <em>Please become a dead bird that gets scooped up with a shovel and thrown in the garbage, or else become an ordinary bird all covered in feathers, flying away from the cat unharmed. Don\u2019t be the most terrible thing that could possibly be. Don\u2019t be a living thing torn half to shreds, dying slow.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Eventually, she convulsed out of my hands, and landed in the shelter of one of those basement windows on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2024\/04\/a-haunted-house\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">the haunted house.<\/a>\u00a0Charlie tried to pounce again, but I stepped in her way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wonder if there\u2019s some way we could put her out of her misery.\u201d Again, I heard myself say this as if my soul was several steps back from my physical body, hiding in the tall grass.<\/p>\n<h3>The boy on the roof hopped down at once. \u201cI\u2019ll get my gun.\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>I wasn\u2019t the least bit surprised he had a gun. Everyone in Northern Appalachia has a weapon or two in the house. Even Adrienne has a practice bow.\u00a0 The people up and down the block go hunting twice a year to stock the freezer with venison; that\u2019s how they get by. I wouldn\u2019t have been more than a little surprised if the boy came back from across the alley with an actual hunting rifle. Instead, after a loud conference with his father in his own yard, he came back with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?sca_esv=daa994d4f615f536&amp;q=pellet+gun&amp;udm=2&amp;fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZjSkgYzz5-5RrRWAIniWd7tzPwkE1KJWcRvaH01D-XIX002E0qNXsgfZ6fffiMQMigVxnU6tfQmfH9K5I6DpRZ1PHfJHqt_eJPP_REF3HPZzV0JdxuQubZu6E8cRhXFotl6JH64815lQimGpwdb3jIbmdX3YtxJ0Tx8m3PjvFV5Amsr6kcnizZTfTEnCWhk0S_cUxZQ&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwizqNLK35KOAxWJjokEHXC8HWIQtKgLKAJ6BAgSEAE&amp;biw=1366&amp;bih=599&amp;dpr=1\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">pellet gun<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMake it a clean head shot!\u201d cautioned the father.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t do it near the house!\u201d my consciousness told my body to say. \u201cYou might break a window!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The boy\u2019s sister picked up the bird and carried her to the middle of the yard.<\/p>\n<p>I moved around to the side of the house, to where I\u2019d once hidden from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2022\/07\/a-bit-of-red-clover\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">the stalking neighbor<\/a>\u2014 feeling as if my spirit was halfway across the world, piloting my body by remote control.<\/p>\n<p>The coup de gr\u00e2ce was a single percussive burst of air.<\/p>\n<p>And then, the boy said the worst three words I could imagine. \u201cIt\u2019s still moving!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShoot it again!\u201d called the father.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI only have one bullet!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUse the butt of the gun! Better \u2018n suffering!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I drifted another thousand miles away from Steubenville. My mind was somewhere in orbit, swimming towards the nearest planet that wasn\u2019t earth. I desperately wanted to get to a sphere with no living things at all, because that was the only place where nothing could possibly suffer. The boiling hot sulfur clouds of Venus might be far enough, or the ice cap at the top of Mars. Anyplace safe, clean and sterile, where there\u2019s no such thing as a dying bird.<\/p>\n<p>I must have gone into the house after that, because I was running out of the house with a garbage bag. The boy was running back to his house on instructions from his father to wash the butt of the gun with bleach. I was calling to the boy and girl to wash their hands as well, can\u2019t be too careful, use a lot of soap. The battered carcass went into the bag, and the bag went into the garbage can.<\/p>\n<p>My mind returned, cautiously, still hovering a little ways over my head to see if it was safe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a hunter. I hunted birds before with my dad,\u201d said the boy, as he came back. \u201cBut it was always a clean shot. Never like THAT!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I heard myself mutter something about pigeons being pest birds. If Charlie had killed a mouse or a rat, we wouldn\u2019t have been so upset, and really this was all the same.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to want to be a veterinarian when I grew up,\u201d said the girl.<\/p>\n<p>I heard myself say that I also wanted to be a veterinarian, or a zoo keeper, or a farmer. I didn\u2019t say aloud that I realized I wouldn\u2019t last in any of those professions. All of them have to put down an animal eventually, and I can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s blood on the grass,\u201d said the girl.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rain will wash it away,\u201d said Mary Pezzulo, who once lived in the neighborhood of LaBelle, in the town of Steubenville, on the spot where the Rust Belt collides with the Appalachian Mountains, on a traumatized bend of the Ohio river, when her country was falling into ruin, when the world was burning to death. I watched her say it from the atmosphere, where thunder was beginning to rumble.<\/p>\n<h3>And then there was another peal of thunder, louder this time, and the drops of rain began to fall again.<\/h3>\n<p>The children scurried around the yard, picking up drink cans and candy wrappers before the wind could blow them into the street. They took refuge in the new family\u2019s garage, to watch the storm from the open door. The black cloud rolled in overhead, low in the sky where my soul was still circling like a vulture. And then the rain poured, hard, relentless, dropping a rippled silver curtain between my house and the whole of the earth. For the next few hours, nothing was real except the rain.<\/p>\n<p>Both the cats came up to the porch for their supper, and I fed them.<\/p>\n<p>I went to bed with my heart pounding in my ears.<\/p>\n<p>I haven\u2019t cried yet.<\/p>\n<p>I want to cry, but I can\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>I feel as if I\u2019ll never cry again.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Mary Pezzulo is the author of\u00a0<a class=\"decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Meditations-Way-Cross-Mary-Pezzulo\/dp\/1949643433\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Meditations on the Way of the Cross,\u00a0<\/a><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Sorrows-Joys-Mary-Pezzulo\/dp\/1955821828\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Sorrows an<\/a><a class=\"decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Sorrows-Joys-Mary-Pezzulo\/dp\/1955821828\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">d Joys of Mary<\/a>, and\u00a0<a class=\"decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.avemariapress.com\/products\/stumbling-into-grace?gclid=CjwKCAiA6aSABhApEiwA6Cbm_64-bP59YWJmFni-iGXq4KgITq1EU8hMvt9cV0qJvskRRmsTLYavURoC4SoQAvD_BwE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Stumbling into Grace: How We Meet God in Tiny Works of Mercy.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"main-post\">\n<div class=\"story-block\">\n<div id=\"main-content\" class=\"entry-content clearfix\" data-instance=\"vwARt,GThGG,Wg6JZ,z8tZb,lLhMT,qUiAB,oc9v2,Jz8Jx,Qc8Pz,QxaLK,p8iiP,HKUhs,8l6Ux,hpFS7,5Fmr9,CvQdv,hBbfC,rIEEB,XwFDh,kM3PB,TzuWb,83oAW,6ueUH,N8wxc,tqr7Q,H2cG6,Xoekp,8u2Qc,lP5F0,AGx81,dzeGK,QtvXy,Zgs8D,E16Cj,PKXCv,fGkOS,GHPWL,jYysf,9eJVi,GKkQl,Z91kZ,yXSRp,7jzG5,oCpop,SnfSD,Dk8u2,rJFaX,7BRKa,Bf082,DY8dw\" data-cmd=\"true\">\n<div class=\"main-post\">\n<div class=\"story-block\">\n<div id=\"main-content\" class=\"entry-content clearfix\" data-instance=\"LT0fO,xaGCg,pDjmp,xb0QT,vwARt,GThGG,Wg6JZ,z8tZb,lLhMT,qUiAB,oc9v2,Jz8Jx,Qc8Pz,QxaLK,p8iiP,HKUhs,8l6Ux,hpFS7,5Fmr9,CvQdv,hBbfC,rIEEB,XwFDh,kM3PB,TzuWb,83oAW,6ueUH,N8wxc,tqr7Q,H2cG6,Xoekp,8u2Qc,lP5F0,AGx81,dzeGK,QtvXy,Zgs8D,E16Cj,PKXCv,fGkOS,GHPWL,jYysf,9eJVi,GKkQl,Z91kZ,yXSRp,7jzG5,oCpop,SnfSD,Dk8u2,rJFaX,7BRKa,Bf082,DY8dw\" data-cmd=\"true\">\n<div class=\"main-post\">\n<div class=\"story-block\">\n<div id=\"main-content\" class=\"entry-content clearfix\" data-instance=\"EelCs,tcdp5,3LLRT,3Za4y,zW5Ro,kmFEj,WdWcS,tDDMD,AhxjP,LT0fO,xaGCg,pDjmp,xb0QT,vwARt,GThGG,Wg6JZ,z8tZb,lLhMT,qUiAB,oc9v2,Jz8Jx,Qc8Pz,QxaLK,p8iiP,HKUhs,8l6Ux,hpFS7,5Fmr9,CvQdv,hBbfC,rIEEB,XwFDh,kM3PB,TzuWb,83oAW,6ueUH,N8wxc,tqr7Q,H2cG6,Xoekp,8u2Qc,lP5F0,AGx81,dzeGK,QtvXy,Zgs8D,E16Cj,PKXCv,fGkOS,GHPWL,jYysf,9eJVi,GKkQl,Z91kZ,yXSRp,7jzG5,oCpop,SnfSD,Dk8u2,rJFaX,7BRKa,Bf082,DY8dw\" data-cmd=\"true\">\n<p><em>Steel Magnificat operates almost entirely on tips. To tip the author, donate to \u201cThe Little Portion\u201d on\u00a0<a class=\"decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=9AJMKR8W7AWS2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">paypal<\/a>\u00a0or Mary Pezzulo on\u00a0<a class=\"decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/account.venmo.com\/u\/Mary-Pezzulo-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">venmo<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(A caution to my more sensitive readers: this story involves an injured animal, and a gun.) The rain came back. The heat wave ended\u2013 not in fire, not in ice, but in steam. The temperature dropped from ninety-five with a heat index in the three digits, to the high eighties and rainy every few hours. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2694,"featured_media":20303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,9522,15895,501,1],"tags":[24,1426,47,366,257],"class_list":["post-25499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-appalachia","category-apparition-chaser","category-charlie-the-cat","category-compassion","category-uncategorized","tag-appalachia","tag-bird","tag-cats","tag-garden","tag-trauma"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>And the Rain Will Wash it Away<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;There&#039;s blood on the grass,&quot; said the girl.\u00a0&quot;The rain will wash it away,&quot; said Mary Pezzulo, who once lived in the neighborhood...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/steelmagnificat\/2025\/06\/and-the-rain-will-wash-it-away\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"And the Rain Will Wash it Away\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;There&#039;s blood on the grass,&quot; 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