The sound of the rain on the skylight above the stairs outside my room echoes as the cat purrs. I leave my door wide open when its rains. The sound is comforting. An ex of mine would come over when it rained to lie in my bed and listen to the drops hitting the glass. If the wind is strong the rain batters the windows as well as the skylight and I get it all in stereo. There’s no rhythm to it. Or rather, there’s no overall rhythm to it. There are little bursts of downpours that have their beat, but it’s fleeting. The tempo changes without warning, as does the intensity. When it falls hard it is easy to huddle tighter under the duvet.

The cat’s purr has rhythm. It contrasts nicely with the rain, the stuttering of his little motor expressing how pleased he is with the situation. He breaks from purring to bathe himself. After bathing he finds a new, even more relaxed position, then rests his head and the motor starts again. He looks like a tabby croissant. Every few minutes he’ll wake from his nap and quickly lick his shoulder, as though he suddenly remembered he forgot something.

The rain hasn’t put off the parakeets. A better measure of the impending change of season than the dreich weather, they are shovelling down two full sunflower seed feeders a week. Double what they were a couple of weeks ago. I’m guessing they’re nesting or preparing to nest.
My pal Adi calls them beautiful pests. Feels right. They will brave the rain and each other and feast and squawk and taunt the cat who hates rain even more than he loves trying to chase the parakeets away. The dull weather in no way dulls their feathers. Their vivid green seems to carry its own light so they glow while they feed and yell at each other.

The cat and birds and rain are good company in quarantine. The rain makes me miss leaving the house less and I find its voice soothing in troubled times. The cat puts up with my need for the odd cuddle and needs the odd cuddle himself every once in awhile. And the birds are clowns at someone else’s dinner party, fun to watch, but you wouldn’t want to actually be there.