Change in Weather?

today's optional prompt: a little change of weather


Texas is a land of extreme weather.  In this part of the world, we have hot, followed by melty hot and burst into flames hot.  It is hot here, meaning in the 90s or above, about 8 months out of the year.  Sunny, blue sky weather.  Yep.  

No rain.  No rain means that grass dies and the wind whips up dust clouds.  The dust, while not nearly as horrible as the Dust Bowl of  the early twentieth century, gets into everything. It's a dust mixed with pollens and other random items like bug parts, that swirls through the area.  Then, when the farmers in Mexico burn off their fields(and I can see no good reason to burn a field, when plowing it is just as effective), the smoke heads up here and we get that into the mix as well.  No wonder I have developed asthma since I moved here!

I would love a nice steady rain shower.  No thunder, no lightning, and especially no tornadoes.  Just a week or two of daily, two hour rain showers starting at around 1pm and ending before the rush hour traffic.  That would get rid of most of the dust that has permeated every nook and cranny of the outdoors, so I'd be able to breathe.  It would also refill all of the lakes and rivers and alleviate the pressure on the aquifer that we use for our water source.   

And it would sure cool us all off!

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Holy Spaces

San Fernando Cathedral was founded in 1731 and is the oldest, continuously functioning religious community in the State of Texas. In other words, it's freakin' old. When I am downtown, I like to go there to meditate for a bit.

As soon as you enter the cathedral, you feel the hush. Say what you will about the Catholics who colonized this area, they understood viscerally how to inspire the awe necessary to any House of God. The smell of incense permeates the very bones of this place. There is no doubt that you are in a holy space, whatever your religion. The interior is cool and quiet, a sweet blessing on a hot day. There's something comforting about the permanence of a building that has been here for so very long.

I like to sit in the back. As I kneel, I can sometimes feel the prayers of the millions of worshippers who have come through this cathedral over the centuries whispering around me. When I add my prayers to theirs, it feels like my ghostly fellow penitents give my prayers more power, as my words seem to rise like the smoke of incense into the air above me.

What are some holy or sacred spaces that bring you peace?